Hal Patrick Riney (July 17, 1932 – March 24, 2008) was an American

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

executive.

Early life

Riney grew up in Longview, Washington. He graduated from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in 1954 with a degree in art.

Career

After serving two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

doing

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

in Italy, he joined BBDO San Francisco, moving from the mail room to head

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

and finally creative director in 1968. In 1970, he hired Paul Williams to write a song for a Crocker Bank commercial, which was later recorded by The Carpenters and became the hit " We've Only Just Begun". In 1976 he joined Ogilvy & Mather, building their West Coast office from scratch. In 1984, Riney created and did voiceover for the noted "

Morning in America "Prouder, Stronger, Better", commonly referred to by the name "Morning in America", is a 1984 political campaign television commercial, known for its opening line, "It's morning again in America." The ad was part of that year's presidential campaig ...

" and "

Bear in the Woods "Bear", a television commercial known for and often referred to by its opening line "There is a bear in the woods", was created for the 1984 U.S. presidential campaign of Republican Party candidate Ronald Reagan. The commercial featured a griz ...

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

s for the successful

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

1984 Presidential re-election campaign. After creating the Bartles & Jaymes campaign for

E & J Gallo Winery E & J Gallo Winery is a winery and distributor headquartered in Modesto, California. It was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo, and is the largest exporter of California wines. E & J Gallo Winery is the largest family-owned wine ...

, Riney resigned the account, but soon was awarded the launch campaign for Saturn Corporation. The agency was sold to Publicis in 1998. Founder of the

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

Hal Riney & Partners (now Publicis & Hal Riney), Riney was named #30 on the ''

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mul ...

'' 100 people of the 20th century. He was inducted into the

Advertising Hall of Fame The Advertising Hall of Fame, operated by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), began in 1948 as a result of a proposal by the New York Ad Club and its president, Andrew Haire, to the Advertising Federation of America, the predecessor organiza ...

in 2001.

Personal life

Riney was married five times. Riney died at age 75 in 2008, from cancer, at his home in San Francisco.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riney, Hal 1932 births 2008 deaths People from Longview, Washington University of Washington alumni Advertising directors American copywriters Businesspeople from Seattle Deaths from cancer in California Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area Businesspeople from San Francisco American male voice actors 20th-century American businesspeople