Avis dumps decades-old ‘We Try Harder’ for ‘It’s Your Space’

It isn’t often that we get a ringside seat to the dismantling of a venerable brand, but that’s what happened when Avis, the car rental company, announced that it scrapped its iconic “We Try Harder” slogan.

Did your jaw drop? Mine did.

After all, a slogan that conveys a deeply rooted corporate philosophy—motivating employees and promising benefits to consumers—is a rare and beautiful thing. Even rarer is one that’s almost universally recognized by consumers, and has been for half a century.

The appeal to consumers is obvious; the “We Try Harder” slogan has been listed as one of the “Top Ten Ad Campaigns of the 20^th Century,” by CNBC. But maybe the people inside the company thought it was irrelevant. To find out, let’s look at this description of the slogan from Avis’s website.