Beef: It's What's for Dinner

"Beef. It's What's for Dinner" is an American advertising slogan and campaign aimed to promote the benefits of incorporating beef into a healthy diet. The campaign is funded by the Beef Checkoff Program with the creative guidance of Leo Burnett Worldwide.

The campaign was launched the week of May 18, 1992 by the Chicago-based National Livestock and Meat Board through a promotional arm, "The Beef Industry Council", by the advertising firm of Leo Burnett Company. The "Beef. It's What's For Dinner" campaign was established through television and radio advertisements that featured actor Robert Mitchum as its first narrator, and scenarios and music ("Hoe-Down") from the Rodeo suite by Aaron Copland, followed by a large magazine campaign that was rolled out in late July and early August.

The initial campaign ran for 17 months at a cost of $42 million.

The new campaign replaced the slogan "Beef. Real food for real people" from the San Francisco firm of Ketchum Advertising. Leo Burnett beat out Ketchum, GSD&M Advertising, and DDB Needham. Mitchum replaced such spokespeople as James Garner who was released after quintuple bypass surgery,Cybill Shepherd, and Larry Bird, who had appeared in recent beef campaigns for The Beef Council. The previous campaigns had featured these stars in front of the camera, but the new one only used voice-over narration and highlighted the prepared beef.

The Beef Checkoff promotion is funded by collecting a dollar on every cow, steer, and bull sold in the United States. The program was challenged in the 2005 Supreme Court case . In 2017, the program is being challenged again in Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund v. Sonny Perdue.

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