Three Not-So-Obvious Nominations for the Advertising Hall of Fame

The 63rd Annual Advertising Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is right around the corner. Although I’ve never attended one of these ceremonies, a quick glance at this year’s inductees and the current membership shows an impressive list of advertising superstars:  Leo Burnett, George Gallup, Henry Luce, and David Ogilvy are there. So are The Coca-Cola Company, Herb Kelleher, Ted Turner, and General Motors.

But—like so many industries and sports—there are those that have made significant contributions to advertising, and yet have gone largely unrecognized. Here are three examples:

L.A.M. Phelan. Never heard of him? L.A.M Phelan developed a technique for cooking chicken which led to his eventual founding of Broaster Company in Beloit, Wisconsin. Yep—L.A.M. Phelan is the man responsible for the most-delicious advertising word of all time: “Broasted.”  A word that nobody is really sure what it means—but you’re sure is synonymous with “delicious”, and you can find in every metropolis and small town throughout the United States. According to the company’s Wikipedia page, broasting equipment is not available to the general public. The patented method of pressure cooking and deep frying chicken is instead licensed to over 5,000 businesses across the country—and being licensed requires the purchase of special equipment, a willingness to follow exact recipes and cooking methods, and periodic certification.

Ray Szmanda. If you grew up anywhere near a Menard’s home improvement store in the Midwest, you remember Ray—you just don’t remember him by that name. You remember him as “The Menard’s Guy.” Szmanda was the television spokesman for Menard’s for 22 years. His style was unique—his enthusiasm for patio doors and bathroom fixtures and 1,000’s of other products (that you might not have been sure you could install, but you knew you had to be getting a great deal) was unparalleled. You’d watch the commercials just for the facial expressions alone. Here’s one:

Menard’s Commercial Featuring Ray Szmanda

Szmanda is a Wisconsin native and had a long career in television and radio, including one movie appearance. His nephew, Eric Szmanda, is CSI’s “Greg Sanders.”

The National Collectors Mint. I don’t have the name of the copyrighter who is truly to be credited for this nomination, but they should be honored as the Shakespeare of late-night coin commercials. Without them, we wouldn’t have heard of these classic phrases:

• “Gold Clad”
• “Now you can reserve your own copy”
• “Price only guaranteed for 7 days”
• “Proof struck”
• “Strict limit of 5 per caller”
• “Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity”

And my personal favorite—“avoid disappointment and future regret.”  With all due respect to those of you who have placed your retirement savings into .9999% pure 24k gold Buffalo Nickel proofs, these ads’ ability to slip in enough vague terms to make people cough up $19.95 (for a $50 coin! Act now!) is legendary.