Meaning
What does Often Imitated Never Duplicated mean?
Often imitated, never duplicated is a term used to express something being copied many times, yet never matching the original version’s quality.
The expression became increasingly popular within commercial and adversary lingo over the years.
Often featuring in TV ads of big corporate products, the term is meant to convey trustworthiness and good quality towards customers.
Similar to products, the term can also be applied to people whose style is original and is unmatched by anyone else.
Origin
What's the origin of Often Imitated Never Duplicated?
The phrase is originated from a company called Traub Manufacturing Company, that used this slogan for their campaign that advertised wedding rings.
It is a fairly old expression as the ad was published in 1927 in a magazine, but since then it went viral and has been used as a trope by numerous other companies.
Spread & Usage
How did Often Imitated Never Duplicated spread?
As mentioned above, the “often imitated, never duplicated” expression is used mostly by companies and in sales.
However, you can also encounter this phrase online, implemented into various meme pages. For example, memes about copying someone else’s homework often use the trope as a punchline.
In 2011, hip-hop artist named Fabulous released his single titled Never Duplicated, which has the whole expression written in the lyrics several times.