AD / PR HOF

Charles Claggett – 2008

Charles Claggett, Sr., began at Gardner Advertising as a copywriter in 1931 after graduating from Princeton, stayed for 37 years and rose to the position of CEO. Under his watch, Gardner grew from a small St. Louis agency to a top international firm, with offices in nine cities, and agency billings quadrupled. In his early work with Ralston Cereals, which included writing scripts and running the Tom Mix radio show, Claggett set up a Tom Mix fan club, bringing in 250,000 memberships from kids as soon as it was announced. The program became the top children’s radio show in the country. He also helped revive the Jack Daniel’s whiskey brand, advising the distillery to raise prices and limit supply to stimulate demand. 

Charles Claggett, Jr. – 2008

Charlie Claggett, Jr., was managing director/chief creative officer of D’Arcy St. Louis from 1994 to 1999. He was most noted for coining the slogan “This Bud’s for you” in 1979, which continued to carry Budweiser’s ad campaigns for several decades, and for leading the creative team that conceived the Budweiser frogs. Charlie received more than 80 national and international creative awards, including Cannes, Clio, US TV Commercials Festival and London Art Directors, to name a few. During Claggett’s time as chief creative officer, D’Arcy St. Louis garnered more industry creative awards than at any other time.