SEPTEMBER 2 - Thanks for the great ad slogan. Now $%#@ off!

Even if you weren’t around in the late 1950s and early 1960s (I was), you probably know the Hertz Corporation’s classic ad slogan: “Let Hertz put you in the driver's seat.”

It was created by the Norman, Craig & Kummel agency in 1959, soon after NC&K was selected to be Hertz’s new advertising firm.

According to info Hertz filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database when it trademarked the slogan, it was first used in commerce on September 2, 1959.

The classic Hertz TV ads – with their gravity-free people floating down from the sky into cars and catchy “Let Hertz put YOU…” jingle – started airing a year or so later.
Those ads were definitely memorable. And, they helped fuel the growth of Hertz in the early ‛60s.

Indeed, AdAge magazine included them its list of the “Top 100 Advertising Campaigns of the Century.”

But in 1963, Hertz’s smaller rival, Avis, started it’s own catchy ad campaign. It was the quickly famous "We're only No. 2. We try harder" campaign (which is also on the AdAge “Top 100” list).

The snarkily clever Avis slogan and angle was created by the Doyle Dane Bernbach agency. It turned Hertz’s position as the largest car rental company against it and quickly gained more attention and customers for Avis.

By 1966, an article in Time magazine noted that Hertz “is being at least nibbled by ‘We're only No. 2’ Avis...Avis has upped its revenues by 34% in 1966, compared with Cadillac-sized Hertz's gain of 18%.”

The article also noted the Hertz had unceremoniously dumped Norman, Craig & Kummel and hired a new ad agency.

That agency never came up with anything as well remembered as “Let Hertz put you in the driver's seat.”

But, hey, as shown on one of my favorite TV shows – Mad Men – the ad agency business in the 1960s was rough. It still is. But it’s not nearly as cool as the world of Mad Men.