In my 38 years as a copywriter, I found taglines the most difficult to write. Long copy was easy. Shorter copy, written to fit a layout, a little harder. Headlines, very difficult. But taglines – in which you sum up a client’s business, promise, spirit in just three or four words – those were a challenge.
Until this past weekend, my favorite was “It’s Good Company” for WRVO, an NPR station based in Oswego, N.Y. But on Saturday, watching the Travers Stakes at Saratoga, I heard the television announcer boom out, “Saratoga, The August Place to Be.”
I wrote that one for the New York Racing Association about 40 years ago, and to hear it again, still alive, still working, was a lovely surprise.
