By the time this blog post is complete, it will have been subject to several rounds of

rereading, proofreading, editing and tweaking. Commas will be added or removed.

Tenses will be changed. Words will be switched in favor of ones deemed more
appropriate. It’s all done for the sake of clear communication, the basis behind all
marketing and advertising.

Well, with that in mind, how do so many successful brands get away with poor grammar
in advertising?

COMMON CONTRARIANS
Perhaps one of the most famous grammar-defying examples is California Milk
Processor Board’s “Got Milk?” which launched in 1995 and remains an enduring slogan
today (despite being retired in 2014). Grammarians everywhere will be quick to point out
that the line could be revised to “Do you have any milk?”—but even the strictest of
sticklers would probably see how that wouldn’t quite strike the same chord.

Bending the rules allowed the campaign to not only boast an elusive two-word headline,
but also usher in a truly lasting catchphrase. It’s easy to say, easy to remember, and
has the call-to-action built right in. No doubt about it, when you hear those two little
words, milk is on the mind.

But “Got Milk?” uses conversational, familiar language. Any grammar violations may be
forgiven. A similar example is Apple’s “Think Different” (which, revised, should be “Think
Differently”). What about those advertisers who commit the harder grammar crimes?

BENDING RULES
A common rule-breaking tactic in the industry is the practice of making adjectives into
nouns. Think of Nutella’s “Spread the happy” or Sephora’s “Celebrate your
extraordinary.” The resulting expressions are punchier, cuter and more personal than
the grammatically correct alternatives (“Spread the happiness” and “Celebrate being
extraordinary”).

Essentially, in advertising, good grammar gives way to more artful constructs. By

skirting the rules, there’s more flexibility for rhythm and unexpected turns of phrase, and
in the end, headlines are more memorable.
And even beyond headlines, like in body copy, traditional grammar goes out the
window. Bullet points don’t always have periods. Hyphens are often absent, much to
this author’s dismay. Incomplete sentences abound (like the quintessential “And so
much more!”)

Whether it’s visually cleaner, or just a shorter way of phrasing the details, shattered
grammar can be found across the entire span of marketing and advertising. Considering
all of this, the most crucial thing to remember is that there is always a specific reason
that this use of non-traditional grammar actually works. These deviations are done
purposefully to bring consumers closer to the brand, and in these cases examined by
vocabulary.com’s Nancy Friedman, copywriters break the rules knowingly.

Of course, that means that breaking the rules unintentionally can have the exact
opposite effect. And it’s usually fairly clear when a true grammar mistake has been
made. Take these ad snafus, for example, compiled by Hubspot.

THE VERDICT IS IN...

It’s clear that grammar—and non-grammar, for that matter—holds a lot of power. When
considering how to deal with grammar in advertising, it’s important to think of
communication as target-specific. That’s why Entrepreneur’s Susan Gunelius advises
copywriters to consider the audience before going rogue. “Think of it this way,” she
writes. “You use a different tone in communicating the same story to your boss than you
use with your family, right? The same theory holds true in copywriting.”

This is the reason that a blog post like this may undergo more stringent grammar
adherence than, say, a headline for Nutella. When it comes to long-form writing, readers
are more invested in the communication. That means there are perhaps fewer
opportunities for creative grammar…for playful language…oh what the heck—for off-
road grammaring.

Some Examples of Great Advertising with Poor Grammar

Let's start with some of the most obvious ones, and they're some of the most powerful
phrases ever to come out of an advertising agency.
Perfect Grammar Is NOT Perfect Communication
In advertising, it just doesn't even come close. Grammar is always secondary to
message.

A sentence that is structured beautifully, obeying all the laws, and bylaws, of the English
language, is not what advertising is all about. In fact, in advertising you don't even need
to use real words, good sentence structure, and proper punctuation, or obey any of the
rules that were drummed into you in school.

What is paramount is getting the message across, not impressing people with your
superior command of the English language (or whatever other language you're
advertising in). It's the be all and end all. It's the whole shooting match. Grammar has as
much importance in advertising as good penmanship has in graffiti.
Got Milk?
Grammatically, that's not good at all. If you were to put that through the grammar filter, it
would come out as something more like "Do You Have Milk?" But that's dry, and awful.
Got Milk? was catchy, simple and created a craze. It helped sell a lot of milk, and was
endorsed by many major celebrities.
Think Different - Apple
If it were 100% correct, it would be Think Differently. Again, that's not a strong piece of
communication. Tonally, it has less teeth. It's stiff. Boring. Think Different was bold and
brave.
Make Summer Funner - Target
A lovely little campaign from a few years ago. Grammatically speaking, it's an F. But
"Make Summer More Fun" is bland. The incorrect version works.
The Few. The Proud. The Marines. - U.S. Marine Corps.
Three two-word sentences back-to-back? That's not good. But it is. A good, simple
sentence should have at least a subject and a predicate. However, once again the rules
have been broken to create a phrase with impact.
Spread The Happy - Nutella
A widely-used trick in advertising is to turn an adjective into a noun. A perfect example
comes from Nutella, which took a common phrase (spread happiness) into something
much more memorable and punchy. Because of this, it stood out.
To Each Their Own - Honda
That phrase is like nails on a chalkboard to anyone that knows anything about the rules
of grammar. For this phrase to be correct, it should be either "To Each His Own" or "To
Each Her Own." Each is singular, their is plural, therefore the copy line is inaccurate.
But...who cares? It got the point across in a fun way.
Rethink Possible - AT&T
Again, grammar buffs will look at that one and scream. It should really be "Rethink What
Is Possible" but the copywriter and art director would have bored the client with that
one. A simple exercise in concision turned the phrase into something catchy, even
though it was clearly not grammatically correct.
Less Sugar, Less Bottles - SodaStream
We all know that the second half of that tagline is wrong. It should say "fewer bottles,"
but that would not have been as fun. The alliteration helps with the memorability, and it
still gets across the idea. Anyone that's stood in line at the "15 items or less" checkout
knows what it means, even though it's not accurate. And in advertising, it's totally OK to
be wrong.
It would be easy to go on and on with examples. You are probably thinking of your own
right now, or have written some. The point is, good grammar is for literature, not
advertising. (Unless, of course, you're advertising a series of books or websites that
teach perfect grammar...and even then, you may want to use bad grammar to draw
people in).