Many of you know that I spent most of the 1980s on Michigan Avenue in Chicago as an advertising copywriter.
I produced award-winning radio for the American Egg Board. TV spots for Corona Beer and Kroger. Coupon ads for Veg-All. Fundraising for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Business-to-Business ads for Masonite, Halo Lighting, Cutler-Hammer, Eaton, and others.
I even coordinated the team that named “SunChips” for Frito-Lay. We did focus groups and taste testing. Hundreds of names were considered.
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The ultimate name,“SunChips,” actually came from an art director who handed me about ten ideas she had jotted on a yellow pad. (There’s a lesson there.) My own favorite contribution to the naming project was “Amber Waves.”
Sidenote to marketing professionals: Frito-Lay thought they were creating a new product category that would be known as “grain chips.” Our testing revealed that generic term sounded “too dry and tasteless,” so they backed off that idea. Whether they knew it our not, the name they chose eliminates any possible competition.
In my years working at Campbell-Mithun, I had the most fun as the go-to writer for the Midway Airlines account. Here’s a peek at my portfolio which has been gathering dust for years.
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With the passing of a Chicago legend this week, I’m reflecting on my unforgettable experience writing and producing TV, radio, and full-page ads for Midway with Mike Ditka. We saturated Chicago media for much of 1987 to 1989. If you were alive and paying attention at the time, you would have seen and heard my work.
Let me confirm that everything you heard about Da Coach is true. He was ridiculously intimidating. He always started out mostly compliant when we offered instructions or suggestions. But typically about halfway through our recording sessions, Mike let us know that he was large and in charge.
One of the spots we shot at Ditka’s restaurant had him on the phone talking with Jerry Vainisi, the former Bears GM who had gone to work for the Detroit Lions. We got Vainisi involved because we were introducing the Midway Shuttle to Detroit. On the first take, Ditka pronounced the new destination, “DEE-troit.” Which, of course, is the wrong pronunciation. As soon as I attempted to correct him – “Mike, let’s try duh-TROIT” — I knew I had made a mistake. After all, we hired Ditka to be Ditka.
Another one of my scripts had Mike saying, “At Midway Airport, gates are closer, bags come faster, and it’s just nine miles from Soldier Field.” He got tongue tied a couple times and didn’t hesitate to make his frustration clear. With a penetrating look, he said, “Do you know how many words are there?”
This young copywriter did not have any more suggestions for the paid talent that day.
At Midway Airport, for another shoot, we had requested that Mike bring a few shirt options from his own wardrobe. Apparently, he didn’t get the message. He sternly looked the art director and said something like, “This is what I’m wearing.” Wisely, AD Charlie Galli said, “Looks great to me.”
Finally, at a recording studio in Streeterville, we had Coach Ditka read five :60 radio spots which I had scripted. They were interactive conversational spots with a touch of humor. At the time, I’m pretty sure Mike enjoyed them.
Today, I rummaged through a shelf of storage boxes to find an old VHS of my commercial reel. I haven’t watched it in 20 years. Next week, I promise to have it transferred to digital so I can post some of it on my YouTube channel. Just for you. More on that later.
Rest in peace, Coach. You still have millions of fans in Chicago. Including this now much-older writer who will always cherish my brush with greatness including our conversation riding in a limo from downtown to Midway Airport some 40 years ago.
Crazy, huh?
/jay
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