Technique
Glittering generalities
Ads built on vague, virtue-laden words (freedom, beauty, belief, possibility) that feel good but promise nothing specific.
All ads
-
2008Hope
A single uplifting word beneath a portrait gazing towards the horizon sells an ideal rather than any specific policy.
-
2004Gandhi
Sells the lofty idea of connection, summed up as communication being life, rather than any specific service.
-
1997Think Different ("The Crazy Ones")
A prose poem saluting misfits who change the world sells an ideal of thinking differently while promising nothing specific about any product.
-
1984Prouder, Stronger, Better ("Morning in America")
Promises a country that is prouder, stronger and better, feel-good words that set the mood but commit to nothing specific.
-
1981Be All You Can Be
Reframes enlistment from obligation or last resort into self-fulfilment, an uplifting ideal that promises personal growth without specifics.
-
Absolut Perfection.Absolut Vodka1980
Absolut Perfection
Claiming perfection in a single word praises the vodka in lofty terms that promise nothing specific.
-
A diamond is forever.De Beers1947
A Diamond Is Forever
The vague ideal of forever promises nothing measurable about the stone, yet makes selling one on feel unthinkable.
-
1939Futurama (Highways and Horizons)
Sells no particular car, only a shining vision of the future, summed up by a pin telling riders they have seen it.
-
Torches of FreedomLucky Strike (American Tobacco Company)1929
Torches of Freedom
Recasts cigarettes as torches of freedom, wrapping a sales push in the virtue language of women's equality.
-
Soaring to Success! Daily Herald – the Early BirdDaily Herald1919
Soaring to Success! Daily Herald – the Early Bird
The caption declares the paper is soaring to success, a feel-good boast that says nothing specific about the newspaper itself.
-
1915The Penalty of Leadership
Lofty ideas about leadership and what deserves to live replace any specifics, persuading through noble sentiment alone.
Glittering generalities: how it works
Glittering generalities are emotionally appealing words and ideals, such as freedom, happiness, beauty, courage or possibility, used so that the audience agrees without examining what is actually being claimed. It is one of the seven propaganda devices popularised by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis in the late 1930s, and it is still taught as a way to read advertising critically.
How to spot it
- Big abstract words and slogans with no checkable claim.
- Lines that sound like a philosophy or a manifesto rather than a product benefit.
- A mood of optimism or virtue that the brand simply claims for itself.
Why it works
Abstract ideals are hard to argue with, and they let a brand stand for something larger than its product. Many of the most famous slogans in advertising are glittering generalities, which is why they last: they mean whatever the audience brings to them.