The slog of slogans

slo·gan [sloh-guhn] –noun
a war cry or gathering cry, as formerly used among the Scottish clans.

With the possible exception of the adjective “gay”, which seems to have gone from meaning “happy” to “naff” via “homosexual” or the verb “pimp” (was “exploit”, is now “enhance”) few words in the English language have betrayed their earlier meaning with quite such economy as “slogan”. I’d bet that when you hear this particular noun, you think of a tired, manipulative and static statement, rather than an invigorating battle cry.

So when Gordon Brown unveils Labour’s new campaign slogan (“A Future Fair for All”) it is also a reasonable bet that those of us paying attention shrug our shoulders, wrinkle our noses and go back to whatever we were doing. We might bemoan the lack of punctuation, or complain that we’ve heard it all before (in this case that’s literally true; it was Labour’s conference slogan in 2004). Or we’ll simply roll our eyes at the idea that anyone, anywhere is going to be moved an inch closer to voting Labour on the basis of such vapid, well, sloganeering (see?).

But spare a thought for those tasked with conjuring such catchphrases. They can’t win. If they pick something off the beaten track the chances are some wag will discover it was used by the Rhodesian National Front in 1974 (witness the mirth caused by the discovery that Operation Fightback, the internal name for Labour’s campaign, is also the name for a BNP campaign). Play it safe, however, and they have to contend with the likes of former staffers blogging about how boring it all is.

The fact is that there are only so many slogans to go around, so to they have to be recycled and shared around. Plaid’s “Think Different”, as David Cornock observed, was lifted from Apple Computers, while the Lib Dems’ “A Fresh Start for Britain” must – surely – have featured in at least one previous campaign from at least one opponent.  The Tories’ 2005 “Are you thinking what we’re thinking?” defied all precedent, but was so cryptic that the voters concluded that, on balance, they probably weren’t.

Perhaps it’s just me that lacks imagination (I helped organise Labour campaigns under such stellar clichés as “Working Hard for Wales”, after all). Legendary catchphrases such as “It’s morning again in America” (Reagan/Bush, 1984), while not technically a slogan* shows that you can campaign in poetry, rather than worn-out prose. And ultimately, campaigns shape slogans, rather than vice versa. If Gordon Brown and Labour somehow emerge victorious, the mass unshrugging of shoulders, unwrinkling of noses and un-rolling of eyes will probably induce enough minor medical complaints to jam NHS Direct’s lines. “A Future Fair for All” will be catapulted into history as a masterpiece of wordcraft and subliminal communication. Who knows, it might even get used again one day.

* The offiial slogan for Reagan/Bush ’84 was the rather more Olympian “Prouder, Better, Stronger”