Throwback Thursday: Celebrity Sales Pitch

Back in the day, the home improvement industry turned to the A-list for celebrity endorsers. For instance, Jack Nicklaus – the Tiger Woods of his day – promoted Vigoro lawn fertilizer in a 1979 issue of National Home Center News, the forerunner of HBSDealer.

Film giant Sophia Loren promoted the Filter Fresh automatic water filtration system in an advertisement appearing in the Feb. 13, 1978 issue.

And in the August 29, 1977 issue, a year removed from the 1976 Olympics, Bruce Jenner – the “World’s Greatest Athlete and ’76 Decathlon Gold Medal Winner” – appears in an advertisement for Norleco light bulbs.

The copy reads: “a power-packed deal that pole vaults profits to an all-time high.”