What is "it?" by Tim Ochser

Ever since Nike exhorted us to "Just do it!", the pronoun has been the vessel for a whole range of cultural suggestions. Tim Ochser finds that "It" is not all that it seems.

McDonald's launched its "I'm lovin' it" slogan in 2003 as part of its first ever global advertising campaign. Today, the words are still plastered on billboards all around the world. The lower-case, calculatedly colloquial message needs little interpretation: You are happy. Times are good. Now eat.



But this is not about McDonald's. It's about the "it" they invoke in the name of their product. It's an attempt to understand just what "it" really is.



"It" was first elevated to the status of a noun-in-itself through US sports-shoes manufacturer Nike's extraordinarily successful advertising campaign urging people to "Just Do It. more...