"Beef. It's What's for Dinner" is an American

advertising slogan Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company's marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company's brand. Etym ...

and

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

aimed at promoting the consumption of

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

. The ad campaign was launched in 1992 by the National Livestock and Meat Board and is funded by the Beef Checkoff Program with the creative guidance of VMLY&R.

History

The campaign was launched the week of May 18, 1992 by the Chicago-based National Livestock and Meat Board through a promotional arm, "The Beef Industry Council", by the advertising firm of

Leo Burnett Company Leo Burnett Worldwide, Inc., also known as Leo Burnett Company, Inc., is an American advertising company, founded on August 5, 1935, in Chicago by Leo Burnett. In September 2002, the company was acquired by Publicis Groupe, the world's third l ...

. The "Beef. It's What's For Dinner" campaign was established through television and radio advertisements that featured actor

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

as its first narrator, and scenarios and music ( "Hoe-Down") from the ''Rodeo'' suite by

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

, followed by a large magazine campaign that was rolled out in late July and early August. The initial campaign ran for 17 months at a cost of $42 million. The new campaign replaced the slogan "Beef. Real food for real people" from the San Francisco firm of Ketchum Advertising. Leo Burnett beat out Ketchum, GSD&M Advertising, and

DDB Needham DDB Worldwide Communications Group LLC, known internationally as DDB, is a worldwide marketing communications network. It is owned by Omnicom Group, one of the world's largest advertising holding companies. The international advertising networks ...

. Mitchum replaced such spokespeople as

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including '' The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's ''The Ameri ...

who was released after quintuple bypass surgery,

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...

, and

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

, who had appeared in recent beef campaigns for The Beef Council. The previous campaigns had featured these stars in front of the camera, but the new one only used voice-over narration and highlighted the prepared beef. The Beef Checkoff promotion is funded by collecting a dollar on every cow, steer, and bull sold in the United States. The program was challenged in the 2005 Supreme Court case '' Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Association''. In 2017, the program is being challenged again in '' Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund v. Sonny Perdue''. Twenty-two spots ran during the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

broadcast from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. For the

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

-based

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

, 34 spots were run at a cost of US$2 million. In May 1993,

Dairy Management Inc. Dairy Management Inc. is an American trade association funded primarily by the U.S. Dairy Promotion Program, itself funded by government-mandated checkoff fees on dairy products and federal tax dollars and dedicated to promoting the sale of Amer ...

and the Beef Industry Council created a promotion called "Double Cheese Cheeseburger Days". After the death of Robert Mitchum on July 1, 1997, the campaign let the existing advertisements that were scheduled play-out through their contract over the next few months. The campaign was already set to switch to new advertisements featuring anonymous narrators with the new campaign and slogan: "Beef. It's what you want". The new campaign was less favorable and "Beef. It's What's For Dinner." was brought back in the fall of 1999 with

Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Aw ...

now reading the voice-over in place of Mitchum. The website BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com was launched in 2002 and serves as a resource for how to prepare and enjoy

. The site addresses topics such as

recipe A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe. His ...

s, shopping recommendations, cooking tips, proper food handling and nutrition facts. www.BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com also includes ''Beef So Simple'', a weekly electronic newsletter featuring beef cooking tips and recipes. In 2021, the campaign assumed

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

for the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

race at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...

, branding it the Beef. It's What's for Dinner. 300.

Former campaigns

"Powerful Beefscapes" was a recent advertising campaign from The Beef Checkoff. Building on the "Beef. It's What's for Dinner" slogan, the print and

radio advertisement In the United States, commercial radio stations make most of their revenue by selling airtime to be used for running radio advertisements. These advertisements are the result of a business or a service providing a valuable consideration, usually ...

s, voiced by actor

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...

, asked people to "Discover the Power of Protein in the Land of Lean Beef". Launched in 2008, with the support of partner advertising agency Leo Burnett Worldwide, the new print ads demonstrate a creative approach to

food photography Food photography is a still life photography genre used to create attractive still life photographs of food. It is a specialization of commercial photography, the products of which are used in advertisements, magazines, packaging, menus or cook ...

. Each ad brings to life one of the 29 cuts of lean beef as a landscape such as flatlands, beach, cliff, mountain, canyon and river. On the radio, the new campaign continues to use the long-standing tagline and

's ''Rodeo'' music.

Reception

According to the Beef Checkoff Program, "Beef. It's What's For Dinner" is recognized by more than 88 percent of Americans.Ad History
. - Beef, It's What's for Dinner.

Awards

The campaign has received awards, including the 2006 Sappi Award, and the 2003, 2004, and 2007

Effie Award Effie is a feminine given name, sometimes a short form (hypocorism) of Euphemia (Greek: Εὐφημία). Notable people with the name include: Women * Effie Bancroft (1840–1921), English actress and theatre manager * Effie Boggess (1927-2021 ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com
Advertising campaigns American advertising slogans 1992 neologisms