Bill Bernbach basically turned underdogging into a marketing religion.
Check out this old clip of how he wrote the now-famous “We Try Harder” ad campaign for Avis.
This will surely make it to my upcoming list of “The Best Advertising Documentaries/Videos” when I get to it.
Oh, and if you like Bernbach, you might want to check out “Bill Bernbach on Creative Qualities” (he tells some good stories in that 6 min. video).
Watch Bill Bernbach Tell the Story of “We Try Harder” Campaign (Avis)
You can watch it for free on YouTube by clicking the video embed above.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 91/100
- IMDB Rating: N/A
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: N/A
Release Date: 1967 (from the archives of “The Century of the Self”
Highlights of Bill Bernbach Tell the Story of “We Try Harder” Campaign (Avis)
This clip is full of truth bombs.
Bill Bernbach—yeah, the ad legend—tells the story of the Avis campaign where they said flat out:
“We’re number two.”
Most companies would panic at that. But Bernbach leaned in and said:
“So we try harder.”
Boom. That line became one of the most famous ad slogans ever.
Research said not to do it. Customers didn’t like hearing that Avis wasn’t #1. But Bernbach didn’t just listen to research—he trusted human nature.
He knew that when someone is #2, they fight harder. They hustle. People believe in that.
And guess what? It worked. Big time. Avis went from losing money to making over a million dollars in profit within a year (this is 1967 so that was a ton of money!).
Bernbach also talks about how advertising isn’t just a science. It’s art.
And if you want to grab someone’s attention, you have to make them feel something. You have to stop them in their tracks.
He jokes about ads costing $50,000 a page in Life Magazine (again, when that was big bucks)—so you better make those pages count.
This one’s not just about ads. It’s about honesty, guts, and knowing how to connect with people. Bernbach wasn’t trying to sell us something fake. He was trying to tell the truth in a clever way. And that made all the difference.
Thanks for reading!
Rob Kelly, Chief Maniac, Daily Doc