• by Joe Mandese , March 26, 2008

Hal Riney, the San Francisco-based ad executive who built and sold his namesake agency to Publicis Groupe in 1998, died Monday. He was 75.

Riney help craft brands ranging from Gallo wines to Saturn automobiles, but is perhaps known best for helping to shape one of America's greatest political brands: Ronald Reagan. As a member of Reagan's so-called "Tuesday Team," he played an integral role in electing and reelecting the two-time President of the United States.

He was the voice behind colleague Phil Dusenberry's memorable "Morning Again In America" spot that epitomized the Reagan reelection campaign, and created the "There's A Bear In The Woods" spot, an effective allusion to the lingering threat of the Soviet Union, that some say was the turning point in the campaign.

Among other things, Riney was also responsible for accelerating the career of David Verklin, a bright young executive in Young & Rubicam's media department, whom he recruited to become Riney's media director, and who ultimately became the agency's manager before being raided by Aegis Group to run Carat.