adchick

I never met John Madden, but my dearly departed ex-partner worked with extensively with him.  Art (my now deceased ex) was the one who put Mr. Madden with Ace Hardware.  Art reveled in sharing stories about the Ace account, showed me the original pitch book they used to get the Ace Broadcast business which he told me they held for 10 years out of Chicago.  (I still have that book somewhere-must find it and show it to Peter Arnell).  Art  didn’t originate the famous line “Ace is the Place with the Helpful Hardware Man”…he was just smart enough to keep it, then expand it into various permutations: Helpful Hardware Woman, Folks, etc.  Then, Ace is the Place…for Me, for You, etc.    

The story Art told me that I loved about John Madden (aside from his avoidance of airplanes, elevators and wearing anything PINK) was one day in New York City, on their way to record some radio work.  A young Englishman came up to Mr. Madden and shook his hand enthusiastically, saying he was a big fan of Maddens.  Madden was gracious, they had a short friendly exchange and Madden asked the Brit what he did for a living.  The Brit simply replied, “I’m in the entertainment business”.

The Brit was Mick Jagger.