That's because the iconic slogan, dreamt up by the advertising agency Young & Rubicam goes back more than four decades. It was meant to promote the United Negro College Fund scholarship program for black students. The slogan practically part of the national consciousness, like Have a Coke and a smile.
...At an event at the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., on Friday afternoon, the UNCF announced a new ad campaign. Michael Lomax, the head of the UNCF, said the organization decided to quit using actors for its ads in favor of real college kids. And it changed its famous slogan to something a little longer and clunkier: "A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste but a Wonderful Thing to Invest In." The new campaign's tagline is called "Invest in Better Futures."
Several current undergraduate students who had received UNCF scholarships took the stage and spoke movingly about their aspirations and how the scholarship money brought those dreams closer to realization. Each of the students punctuated his or her story with the same phrase: "I am your dividend."
