“We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you”

“We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you!” is a jocular business saying that has been printed on many images. The business motto was started in Anchorage, Alaska at a bar named Chilkoot Charlie’s, at 2435 Spenard Road., and has been printed in newspaperes since at least 1976. Mr. Whitekeys takes credit for its coinage.
 
Although the motto is trademarked with a first use date of 1970, it is often used as a generic business joke. “If the government were a business its marketing slogan would be. ‘We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you’” was posted on Twitter by Jesse Dalton‏ on December 26, 2011.
   
     
Wikipedia: Mr. Whitekeys
Mr. Whitekeys, also known as W. Keys, is a musician, recording artist, entrepreneur, writer, media personality and ornithologist in the U.S. state of Alaska. He was the owner and operator of a nightclub called the Fly By Night Club, located in the Spenard neighborhood of Anchorage, from 1980 to 2006. In part due to his flamboyant public persona and penchant for humor (and to a more limited extent, penchant for self-promotion), he figures prominently in the modern history and folklore of Spenard. He has released sporadic recordings over many years, starting in 1972, mostly under the band name The Fabulous Spamtones.
 
Biography
Mr. Whitekeys spent his early years living in South Dakota, Iowa, and Arizona. He came to Alaska in 1970 with a friend, who left Alaska shortly afterward. Not long after his arrival, he began working as a bar band musician, particularly for Mike Gordon at his new Spenard establishment Chilkoot Charlie’s. He coined what became Chilkoot Charlie’s slogan, “We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you.”
         
2 April 1976, Daily News-Miner (Fairbanks, AK), pg. A-6, col. 2 ad:
CHILKOOT CHARLIE’S
(...)
Remember..Everyday is a bargain day at Chilkoot Charlie’s ‘cause we cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you!!
 
19 June 1982, The Oregonian (Portland, OR),  pg. E16, col. 4 classified ad:
We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you!
(...)
VIDEO WORLD
 
26 September 1982, Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, “On to Anchorage and points north” by Charles McDowell, pg. D1, col. 1:
... a frontier bar that’s named Chilkoot Charley’s and whose motto is “We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you.”
 
Google Books
Morning
By Gene Amole
[Place of publication not identified] : Denver Publishing Company
1983
Pg. 72:
Quote: We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you — Soapy Smith.
 
11 July 1987, Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL), “A Few Bite-Sized Business Bits” by Mike Billington, pg. 6B:
Sign of the times—Seen in a West Palm Beach office: “Procrastination is the fear of failure.
Another sign—This one in a Boca Raton office: “We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you.”
   
Google Books
Mr. Whitekeys’ Alaska Bizarre:
Direct from the Whale Fat Follies Revue in Anchorage
By WhiteKeys
Anchorage, AK: Alaska Northwest Books
1995
Pg. ?:
During that period of weekly false advertising, we wrote the Chilkoot Charlie’s motto, which endures even today: “We cheat the other guy, and pass the savings on to you.”
 
Twitter
Jesse Dalton‏
@ObamaBash
If the government were a business its marketing slogan would be. “We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you.”
12:16 PM - 26 Dec 2011
 
Google Books
The Political Spectrum:
The Tumultuous Liberation of Wireless Technology from Herbert Hoover to the Smartphone
By Thomas Winslow Hazlett
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
2017
Pg. ?:
A more lively formulation is posited by Chilkoot Charlie’s, a popular watering hole in Anchorage, Alaska, which proudly displays its motto: We Cheat the Other Guy and Pass the Savings On To You!
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark WE CHEAT THE OTHER GUY AND PASS THE SAVINGS ON TO YOU!
Goods and Services IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Bar and restaurant services. FIRST USE: 19700000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19700000
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 75628970
Filing Date January 25, 1999
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition December 7, 1999
Registration Number 2323917
Registration Date February 29, 2000
Owner (REGISTRANT) Jadon, Inc. CORPORATION ALASKA 2435 Spenard Road Anchorage ALASKA 99503
Attorney of Record Mark Wittow
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20090622.
Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 20090622
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