"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. Etymo ...

and campaign aimed at promoting the consumption of

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

. 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 VMLY&R was an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the 2020 mer ...

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 ...

. 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 is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Holl ...

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, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

, 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. Mitchum replaced such spokespeople as

James Garner James Scott Garner (né Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Ch ...

who was released after quintuple bypass surgery,

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress, singer 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 Jef ...

, 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 (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

broadcast from

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. 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 munici ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

-based

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

, 34 spots were run at a cost of US$2 million. In May 1993, Dairy Management Inc. 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. With a career spanning over five decades of film and television, he is recognized for his deep sonorous voice. Elliott has received various accolades, including a Screen Actors ...

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 (food), 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 r ...

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 where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

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 NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

race at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

, branding it the Beef. It's What's for Dinner. 300. The naming rights ran until 2023, and is often shortened to "Beef 300" in NASCAR media.

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, usuall ...

s, voiced by actor

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

, 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 appealing still life photographs of food. As a specialization of commercial photography, its output is used in advertisements, magazines, packaging, menus or cookbooks. Professional ...

. 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 Efthymia (Greek: Ευθυμία), Eftychia (Greek: Ευτυχία), or Euphemia (Greek: Ευφημία). Notable people with the name include: Women * Effie Bancroft (1840� ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com
Advertising campaigns American advertising slogans Food industry advertising slogans 1992 quotations