1998 Volume 121 No 1–4 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

With a name like Smuclcer's
The advertising campaign that helped make
"Smucker's" a household word almost didn't happen.
Paul Smucker closes his eyes as he recalls the day in
1959 an advertising agency from Cleveland called to see
if the then-remote Smucker's was interested in advertising.
"We're not advertising minded," Smucker said to the ad
agency, but he told the firm's owner if he were in the
neighborhood to stop by. Paul
Smucker knew his father, Willard
wasn't a big fan of advertising
agencies.
But, not long after Wyse visited
and was rebuffed by Willard
and politely turned down by
Paul Smucker, the younger
Smucker realized some modest
advertising was needed to help
the company's new Salinas, California,
plant operate at capacity.
A few years later, when
Smucker's wanted to attack the
New York market. Paul Smucker
asked Wyse to help.
"He told me 'you've got a
lousy name'" Smucker says.
Wyse knew a few letters added
to "Smucker" would make it a
New York ethnic slur.
But, since changing the name
of the company was out of the
question, Wyse decided to have
fun with it. Hence the now-famous
slogan "With a name like
Smucker's, it has to be good."
Smucker brought the proposal
to the board, mostly made up of
people sharing his last name.
"There was dead silence in the
Pfipip'
room," Smucker says. "But then, someone asked 'do you
think it might have something to do with increased dividends
in the future'"
"I said 'yes,' and they approved it."
Some years later, Wyse wanted to take advantage of
Paul Smucker's pleasant personality and put him on television,
much like Colonel Sanders' commercials for his
famous chicken. Smucker demurred.
"Well, I don't have a beard and he (the Colonel) did a
good job," Smucker says. "I don't have that makeup, and I
might as well admit it."
The shy Smucker did, however, appear live on the
JVly grandfather
told me, if you put
quality in your jars,
that's what you'll
sell. We don't need
a consultant to tell
us that."
Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to advertise Smucker's
ice cream toppings.
A flashyCEO Smucker is not. True to his Mennonite
roots, he has never drunk alcohol or smoked. He can be
credited with most of the company's success, but you
won't hear him tell you about it. Smucker's has more than
$500 milhon in yearly revenue, yet it's "our little company"
when he refers to Smucker's.
"I always have to say it's a team effort. I, independently,
can't do it."
His sons are equally humble.
When asked what it's like to
have a name that's a household
name, Tim Smucker smiles and
says: "It's a household name in
our house."
The current advertising campaign
features actors cast to
look like Tim and Richard as
children.
At Old Miami
As a quiet kid from a small
Ohio town, Paul Smucker could
have easily been intimidated by
the scene at Miami University
in the late 1930s. But a friend
from Orville invited him to the
Ohio Alpha house, and he was
soon a brother. He says membership
in Phi Deha Theta
helped him get acclimated to
college life.
"It opened my eyes because I
was fairly square," Smucker
says, drawing a box in the air
with his fingers.
"It allowed me to relate to
different people. We each had a
different background. We were
able to mix better because of
the Fraternity. It was the buffer that really started my
education, no doubt about it," Smucker says. "I do owe
something to Phi Delta Theta."
The former Ohio Alpha pledgemaster has some advice
for Phis of today:
"He ought to have in mind a long-range goal. He
should clearly understand what he wants to focus on;
then, he must present himself well and get quality
results," Smucker says.
And, with a name like Smucker and a century-old
tradition of quality, he knows what he's talking about.
http://www.phidelt-ghq.com THE SCROLL WINTER 1998 19