In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream

As a copywriter, I spend a lot of time thinking about taglines. The best ones are both memorable and also manage to summarize the company’s brand essence in a few short words. Nike: Just do it. Apple: Think different. The Hired Pens: We choose your words carefully.

You might not have known ours, but I’ll bet you knew Nike’s and Apple’s, even if you didn’t know it was called a “tagline.”

Well, copywriters aren’t the only ones charged with this often daunting, time-consuming and ridiculously fun task (well, if you’re into this sort of thing). Hollywood executives do it, too. The result of their creativity, or lack thereof, can make or break a movie.

So in this blog post – which was inspired by my film-professor husband, who recently gave a lecture on this very subject – we challenge you to see if you can correctly mix and match some of the most famous movie taglines.

Directions

See how many you can match. Don’t share your answers in the comment field – but do feel free to list YOUR favorite tagline that didn’t make the list. Answers will come tomorrow, and you can share how many you got right.

Here are the taglines:

1.     “They’re young … they’re in love … and they kill people.”

2.     “This is Benjamin. He’s a little worried about his future.”

3.     “Don’t get him wet, keep him out of bright light and never feed him after midnight.”

4.     “Being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven.”

5.     “On every street in every city, there’s a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.”

6.     “A monster science created, but could not destroy!”

7.     “The strangest story ever conceived by man.”

8.     “For anyone who has ever wished upon a star.”

9.     “A nervous romance.”

10.   “Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.”

11.   “The happiest sound in all the world!”

12.   “Love is in the hair.”

13.   “She brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees.”

14.   “In space, no one can hear you scream.”

15.   “He is afraid. He is alone. He is three million light years from home.”

16.   “He’s the only kid ever to get into trouble before he was born.”

17.   “Before Sam was murdered, he told Molly he’d love and protect her forever.”

18.   “She walked off the street and into his life, and stole his heart.”

19.   “An adventure 65 million years in the making.”

20.   “What if someone you never met, someone you never saw, someone you never knew was the only someone for you?”

21.   “A homespun murder story.”

22.   “Don’t answer the phone. Don’t open the door. Don’t try to escape.”

23.   “Protecting the earth from the scum of the universe!”

24.   “Her life was in their hands. Now her toe is in the mail.”

25.   “There are 3.7 trillion fish in the ocean. They’re looking for one.”

And here are the movies they come from:

(There’s Something About Mary) (Back to the Future) (Frankenstein) (The Graduate) (The Sound of Music) (King Kong, original) (Ghost) (Pinocchio, original) (Bonnie and Clyde) (A Clockwork Orange) (Taxi Driver) (Annie Hall) (Jaws 2) (Alien) (E.T.) (Gremlins) (Pretty Woman) (Sleepless in Seattle) (Fargo) (Scream) (Men in Black) (The Big Lebowski) (Jurassic Park) (Finding Nemo) (Erin Brockovich)

Answers coming Thursday … Stay tuned.