Quotation in Advertising
Borrowed words used to sell — with legal, ethical, and reputational strings attached.
Advertisers quote for borrowed authority: a line from a poet, philosopher, or cultural figure lends a product gravity it has not earned on its own. Apple's 'Think Different' campaign, which paired product branding with archival footage and words of figures such as Gandhi and Einstein, is the canonical modern example of the technique working at scale.
Three legal regimes apply. Copyright covers the text itself, and fair use or fair dealing rarely protects commercial appropriation. Right of publicity — strong in several US states and enforceable long after death — governs the use of a person's name or likeness to sell goods. Trademark law governs slogans. Estates of quotable figures license these rights actively and litigate over them.
Ethically, the harder problem is implied endorsement. Quoting a dead author beside a product suggests approval that could never be given, and quoting a living one without permission can imply a commercial relationship that does not exist. Disclosure and licensing solve both.
Common mistake: assuming public-domain text is free of all constraint. The words may be free while the person's publicity rights and the specific translation's copyright are not.
“Here's to the crazy ones.”
Keep reading the glossary
A US legal doctrine that permits limited quotation of copyrighted material without permission.
Quotations whose copyright has expired — free to reuse without permission.
A short, catchy phrase designed to be remembered and repeated in the service of a cause, brand, or campaign.
A short phrase, usually attached to a brand or work, that sits under the name to condense its promise.