Hal Riney, Rest in Peace.

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March 26th, 2008

Got word today that my former boss and mentor, Hal Riney, passed away yesterday of cancer at the age of 75. If there were a Mt. Rushmore of advertising, Hal’s face would be up there, along side such icons as Bernbach, Ogilvy and Gossage.

Thinking of Hal’s work reminds me of something Bill Bernbach once said, “Good advertising builds sales. Great advertising builds factories.” Hal’s work didn’t just lead categories, it created them. His folksy spots for Bartles & Jaymes (he produced over 100 of them) essentially created the wine cooler category. His work for Saturn reinvented American cars. His work to re-elect President Reagan set the standard for political advertising.

On a personal note, to me, Hal was much more than a great writer. He represented a coming of age moment in my career. In the two years I spent working for him, I only had maybe four one-on-one conversations with the man. Yet working at his shop, I learned some universal truths that have served me well over these past 20 years.

Good creative people are by nature good problem solvers. Hal encouraged writers and art directors to get involved in defining a client’s problems and have a hand in writing the creative briefs. “Success in this business isn’t so much about doing great ads as it is about creating elegant solutions,” he’d say.
Respect the client, but never forget you’re really working on behalf of the client’s customer, and at the end of the day, that’s who we answer to. Like David Ogilvy, who once said “Don’t insult the reader…she’s you’re wife,” Hal believed in treating the viewer/reader with intelligence, authenticity and respect.
Never settle for “good enough.” He certainly didn’t. Upward of 50 concepts would often be developed before anything went to the client. We would re-edit spots a dozen or more times to get every detail right. We’d cut three or four different voiceovers, just to see which one “felt” right. And you know what? It really did make the work better.
Great agencies ain’t democracies.

While some of the urban legends of Hal tend to portray him as a tyrant and a narcissist, I would disagree on both counts. He was not, as we would call him today, a “people person,” and he was uncomfortable presenting anyone’s ideas other than his own. But that didn’t mean he didn’t care for anyone else’s ideas, or that he always thought his ideas were better. And also, Hal wasn’t the heavy-handed creative director that hovered over you every step of the way. If he liked your idea, he let you produce it the way you wanted. Of course, once you were finished, you had to show it to him. And that’s when the sweat rolled.

While Hal has not been active in the management of his agency for some six years, I think it is safe to say the culture of Hal Riney & Partners still courses through the veins of every creative who ever roamed its hallways. And I hope we all have the opportunities to pay that forward.

Posted by Mickey