Yesterday, MSNBC announced its new slogan, "Lean Forward" — part of a plan to give itself a clearly progressive political position and brand itself as memorably as juggernaut Fox News has with the provocative phrase "Fair and Balanced." MSNBC's slogan is part of a comprehensive, two-and-a-half year campaign that includes ads in subways and newspapers, as well as TV commercials directed by Spike Lee. Will it work?
It's vague and ineffective: "I can only say bravo to the ad wizards who sold MSNBC on this one," says Daniel Foster at National Review. The new slogan, "Lean Forward" is nothing but a "half-hearted attempt... to gloss its same-old lefty line with a coat of empty post-ideological babble." It's also vulnerable to parody: Maybe Fox News should "change its tag-line to 'Start With Your Weight On Your Back Foot, Swing From The Shoulder, And Rotate Your Torso Through The Punch.'"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
In search of paradise in Thailand's western islesThe Week Recommends 'Unspoiled spots' remain, providing a fascinating insight into the past
-
The fertility crisis: can Trump make America breed again?Talking Point The self-styled 'fertilisation president', has been soliciting ideas on how to get Americans to have more babies
-
The fall of SaigonThe Explainer Fifty years ago the US made its final, humiliating exit from Vietnam
