“Got Milk?" is probably the most recognizable advertising campaign ever created. It was so good, in fact, that the star-studded print and television ads have become part of American pop culture. Clever t-shirts and bumper stickers arrived almost immediately after the campaign began: Got Beer? Got Ammo? What made them funny was the obvious difference between milk (wholesome) and beer and bullets (dangerous, grown-up).



But the imitations didn’t stop there. The formula began showing up in ads for soap, roofing and everything in between. There was no longer a relationship to the original humor of the concept. Instead, imitators simply combined “Got" with whatever they happened to be selling, regardless that their ads lacked deeper meaning or originality.

“Got Lasik?" is a perfect example of just how meaningless the approach has become. What’s next? Got Colonoscopies? Got Mammograms?

If you’re considering using “Got _____?" as a headline for your own marketing, here are three reasons not to:

1. It is an obvious rip-off long after parody of the campaign stopped being funny. You don’t have to come up with a brilliantly original headline in order to attract business, but the use of such an obvious cliché will make your marketing fade into the background.

2. The words “Got ____?" don’t have any meaning in and of themselves. The reason they worked for milk was the storyline of the advertising. For example, check out this “Got Milk?" ad at http://www.goodbysilverstein.com/03/quicktime/01.mov. Got Milk? Brilliant! But just saying “Got Lasik?" means nothing.

3. It’s a cop-out. Come up with something that really communicates a relevant message or solution to a problem. Stop trying to be clever, and instead stand for something important.