Wrangler promoted themselves to the mass market with a series of integrated television, poster and radio advertisements based on the fictional character Mr. Wrangler, whose face we never see. This was possibly inspired by a popular character in the Cadbury’s Milk Tray advertisement of the time, whose face we never saw, and whose theme was “Because the lady loves Milk Tray”
Robin continued “In 1979, the first campaign, called “Mr. Wrangler”, appeared in posters on bus shelters.
“We chose bus shelters because people waiting for a bus stand there with nothing to look at except our poster, and each other. Because they want to avoid eye contact with strangers, they study our posters. The first poster featured an illustration of the Wrangler letters, carved into a cliff in the Rockies, and this campaign coincided with a supporting radio advertisement featuring two fictional characters, Mr. Wrangler, who is dismissive and domineering, and his bungling subordinate, Rickenbacker whose name was taken from a real-life World War Two fighter pilot. The characters’ fictional voices were recorded in American accents with the loud sound of the helicopter propellers. Rickenbacker remarks: ‘To show how big your name is we’ve carved it in rock’. The helicopter rises and Wrangler letters are unveiled, 1,000 feet high in the air, in the Rockies. Mr. Wrangler replies: ‘I thought there was one L in Wrangler.” (ibid)
Mr. Wrangler was sophisticated, respected by men and by women, whilst Rickenbacker tries to impress Mr. Wrangler with his ideas, but always made mistakes. The graphic concept, together with the location and the set and the American voices are heavily American, but the poster was actually aimed at the British market. The Mr. Wrangler campaign successfully persuaded the mass market to buy Wrangler jeans. This successful poster led on to a second campaign, still featuring Mr. Wrangler and Rickenbacker. The second series of posters also appeared on bus shelters.
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