Tuckerfan
03-26-2008, 04:00 PM
You probably don't know the name, or the face, but if you were living in America in the eighties you certainly knew his work. (http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2008/03/hal_riney_lives_1.html)Riney, who died of cancer on March 24, wasn’t just an ad writer, he was a story-teller of rare talent from the old school. And for story-telling through advertising, the old school was better than the new school. Believe me.
Among Riney’s most noteworthy efforts was the campaign for President Reagan’s 1984 re-election,”It’s Morning Again in America.” What is remarkable about the resonance of that effort for Reagan was that it was a positive ad message. As politics has been driven deep into the gutter of negative advertising and talk-radio partisan blather, it is a testament to Riney that he wrote the only positive political ads in modern times that are still remembered.
Riney often voiced his ads, as well as wrote them. And he had a talent for naming products. Among these was Gallo’s Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler. In creating the characters “Frank and Ed,” Riney not only named the product, but wrote its 143 commercials over a period of three years an industry record.The Bartles & James ads were some of the best on TV, IMHO.
Among Riney’s most noteworthy efforts was the campaign for President Reagan’s 1984 re-election,”It’s Morning Again in America.” What is remarkable about the resonance of that effort for Reagan was that it was a positive ad message. As politics has been driven deep into the gutter of negative advertising and talk-radio partisan blather, it is a testament to Riney that he wrote the only positive political ads in modern times that are still remembered.
Riney often voiced his ads, as well as wrote them. And he had a talent for naming products. Among these was Gallo’s Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler. In creating the characters “Frank and Ed,” Riney not only named the product, but wrote its 143 commercials over a period of three years an industry record.The Bartles & James ads were some of the best on TV, IMHO.