Fond Memory: Best Ad Headline Ever

Clark Vitulli
B.S. Advertising, 1968

During my Junior year, I had the honor and privilege of working as an advertising salesman for the “Florida Alligator” under the famous – and my hero – Ed Barber.

My major was Advertising, I enjoyed selling (my dad was the consummate salesman), and according to the numbers back then, ad sales were pretty good.
Then, to my surprise, Ed promoted me to “Advertising Manager.”  What a thrill!

Best ad headline I ever wrote was …”Got a Sick Corvair?”  It was a tiny ad, the auto repair dealer had very little money to spend but bought a package to run it for a month.  Frankly, it was his last-ditch effort to stay in business.

Three days into the ad campaign, the dealer called and asked to drop the ad immediately.  My fear – the ad bombed, nobody came in and he was going out of business. Fact is, it was a smashing success, he couldn’t handle all the calls and business, had to hire another mechanic and was back on his feet!

Lesson learned … I’d rather be lucky than good!

Posted: September 27, 2018