Christmas morning, 1966. Some friends call to say they’ll be stopping by later. Uh-oh, we’re out of ice (no icemakers in refrigerators way back then – only ice cube trays). So I jump in the car and head out. I remember a Seven Eleven in North Oklahoma City. Maybe… I pull up and look. It’s all dark. Damn. No luck. Then I see a shape moving inside. They’re open! Thank Heaven!. Uh, what did I just say? Thank Heaven for Seven Eleven!
Wow, a slogan!
Luckily, we have the Seven Eleven account for Oklahoma City. Our Creative Director, Al Fiegel (who with Ray Ackerman wrote the B.C. Clark Christmas jingle in 1956), presented it to Bill Brown, who loved it. We incorporated it into their advertising campaign, with great success. After I left the agency to start my own, Seven Eleven stores picked it up and began using it nationally. Don’t know whether Ackerman sold it to them or they just appropriated it, but last time I looked they were still using it, more than fifty years later. Sure wish I’d copyrighted it as well as copywrited it. (Pardon the grammar).
P.S. I’ve seen a bunch of other guys claim to have written it. They didn’t. I did. And now you know the rest of the story.
