Make It Simple Make It Memorable

From Communications of an Advertising Man (1961). This four-part formulation became one of the most quoted maxims in advertising and design education. Burnett was articulating the standard against which he judged all copy and layout: not technical correctness or artistic elaboration, but the basic virtues of clarity, memorability, visual appeal, and readability. The Marlboro Man campaign, which ran for decades, is often cited as an embodiment of these qualities.