It's Now Dirt Nap Time In America

Legendary Ad Man Hal Riney died last week.

One of the more celebrated creatives that made his mark, helping to create, and coming out of, the boon of the 1960's, to usher in a new mode of operation for Ad Agencies.

Included in his highlights was creating an ad for Crocker Bank, and with it a song that, a few years later, became a #1 hit for The Carpenters;

"We've Only Just Begun" is The Carpenters' signature song. Although it was recorded in early 1970 it is still much in demand as a wedding anthem. [1] Written by the songwriting team of Roger Nichols (music) and Paul Williams (lyrics), the song originally debuted in a commercial for Crocker Citizens Bank in California in 1970, with Williams providing the vocals.[1] It is ranked #405 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Riney was also behind foisting on us Wine Coolers, through the, interpreted by some, whimsical, folksy wit and humor of fictional Bartle and Jaymes, fronting for fat wine cats Ernest and Julio Gallo.

Perhaps, more famously, Riney is the one that created the Republican's rallying cry during the resurgence of the 1980's, that being Ronald Reagan's "Morning In America" campaign ad.

Full text of the ad:

It's morning again in America. Today more men and women will go to work than ever before in our country's history. With interest rates at about half the record highs of 1980, nearly 2,000 families today will buy new homes, more than at any time in the past four years. This afternoon 6,500 young men and women will be married, and with inflation at less than half of what it was just four years ago, they can look forward with confidence to the future. It's morning again in America, and under the leadership of President Reagan, our country is prouder and stronger and better. Why would we ever want to return to where we were less than four short years ago?

The Career Thumbnail - The Carpenters, Ronald Reagan and a Wine Cooler

Yeah, I suppose, if you work at it, suspend certain tenets and beliefs, you can sell anything.

Ad Age has a piece today - Hal Riney Explains His Own Best Commercials - and a video to go with it.

Hal Riney Explains His Own Best Commercials: Video Excerpts From His 2002 San Francisco Presentation

(Note: This was not professionally recorded, and, at least on my computer, the audio is not so great)