Timex takes a lickin'

Timex changed their tagline - with the help of Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners. The old slogan was introduced in the 1950's and revived in the 1990's. The new slogan for Timex is: "Life is ticking." What, like a bomb? A heart rate monitor watch, shown with a heart-stopping breakfast, complete with "Life is ticking." tagline. The New York Times has more on the story and even interviewed Sloganmaven Timothy Foster - adlist member since 1997.

'It takes a licking and keeps on ticking' is brilliant, because the slogan says the benefit," Mr. Foster said. "With 'Life is ticking,' I have a tendency to want to complete the slogan; it doesn't sound like it's finished."

"What I actually said was 'Life is ticking away...'" said Timothy on our mailinglist adlist, and we agree with him.
Though the strategy has good point - people no longer worry about watches stopping, they expect watches to just work - it's still a significant risk in the gamble to replace one of the most memorable taglines in ad history.

Timothy suggested instead; Timex. Still ticking.. " 'It takes a licking and keeps on ticking' is one of the greatest tag lines in terms of memorability, but it's no longer relevant." said Rob Feakins CD at Kirshenbaum Bond to the NYT. That old self promotion poster Kirshenbaum did, stating there was only three things you needed to make a good ad: "A great idea and.." with a visual showing two brass balls - must be true. It's quite daring to leave "it takes a licking" behind.