Sponsor (Sept-Dec 1958)

Record Details:

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, Dick Ross, ST&J's Les Stern proof of how D. J. spoof creates new pale stale ale ^ Olde Frothingslosh, which hegan as a radio gag, becomes a big sales speciahy for Pittsburgh Brewing Co. ^ Holiday volume now spread through six states; jokeinspired beer comes in special bottles sold in cases only ^^ product that once existed only in a disk jockey's ima<iination is now enjoying a brisk holiday sale for the fifth straight year. The demand created for Olde Frothingslosh beer illustrates why some admen are beginning to let the listener create his own mental "video" after being stimulated by the hi-jinks of the announcer. At any rate, this is a case where the d.j. -inspired image actually was "transferred" into the creation of a product. It all began with the reverse selling psychology of KDKA's (Pittsburgh) morning man Rege Cordic. Advertisers spending spot money in that area seem to cotton to his product inventions spoofing their own or competitor's ad techniques. When Olde Frothingslosh turned up as a spoof on his show. Cordic's beer advertisers I Pittsburgh Brewing. Duquesne, Fort Pitt I braced themselves as they heard their pet copy points topple one by one. Claimed for Old Frothingslosh: ll Backwards water, obtained when Sir Reginald Frothingslosh built his brewery at Upper-Crudney-on-the-Thames where the water flows backwards; 2) Lively hops from the little known African province of Hippity (hence the trade name, Hippity Hops) ; and 3) Such lightness that the foam is on the bottom. (Beers in Pittsburgh, says Cordic. make a big thing of lightness.) Soon inquiries started reaching the studio about the availability of this amazingly light beer. Mail response on Olde Frothingslosh asked for more de tails on how the foam was kept on the bottom. Cordic obliged, inventing an entire manufacturing process, enlarging claims, building a corporate image around Sir Reginald (Cordic's sidekick. Karl Hardman). Came Christmas, 1954. Pittsburgh Brewing Co. (which markets Iron City lager and Tech pilsner) requested permission to package a very limited amount of Olde Frothingslosh for its Christmas gifting. Actually, a "Frothingslosh" label was slapped on a bottle of the company's Tech pilsner for the occasion. By Christmas 1955, public "demand" for Olde Frothingslosh had grown to the point where the company carried the idea a long step farther: A small amount of Tech was marketed in Pittsburgh with an Olde Frothingslosh label and promoted on Cordic's show as well as in other radio advertising for three weeks prior to Christmas. Since matters now were getting beyond the laugh class, it was necessary to make it quite clear that the beer actually was for sale. Cordic and Les Stern, radio head of Smith. Tavlor & SPONSOR • 13 DECEMBKR 1958