Tom’s not getting any younger so I find myself checking the obituaries more frequently these days wondering if the next Agitator post is covered.

So far so good. I talked to him this morning. Alive.

But recently, in search of Tom’s unplanned demise (Here at the Agitator we have a liberal HR policy requiring two week’s notice for sudden death. Protection for our readers.), I stumbled across a piece in the New York Times on Ed McCabe, one of the greatest copywriters and creative strategists in my lifetime.

As Mad Men, the award-winning series about Madison Avenue in the ‘60s, enters its much anticipated next season it’s appropriate to remember why Ed, along with other Madison Avenue stars like Bill Bernbach, David Ogilvy and Leo Burnett truly belong in the pantheon of great creatives. (I’ll get to Tom-In-The-Tomb momentarily, I promise.)

Appropriate to our nonprofit sector, Ed knew how to develop and promote brands. For Perdue, he developed the slogan “It Takes a Tough Man to Make a Tender Chicken,” a play on the appearance of Frank Perdue, the company’s leader. For Hebrew National, it was “We Answer to a Higher Authority,” a nod to the kosher certification of the brand’s frankfurters. And for Volvo, he created the headline “Fat Cars Die Young,” making a virtue of the car’s smaller size in an era dominated by Detroit’s giant sedans.

Ed’s hallmark is NOT beating around the bush. He hates it. Rather than all that warm-up the nonprofit sector so suffers from, why not just walk up to the prospect and say, “Hey Buddy, got a light?”  Even non-smokers get the point and respond.

Which brings me to Amish Chicken.

Frequently we report and reference Jeff Brooks’ rants over at Future Fundraising Now. We consider them for the most part uncannily on point. As a result, we’re content to mostly cede the ‘how to’ copywriting territory to Jeff and a couple of others like Tom Ahern, Jerry Huntsinger, and Kathy Swayze.

BUT, Jeff, Tom, Jerry and Kathy aren’t migrant workers. And neither is Tom. I am.

So all this rambling was triggered tonight by the simple entry on a Washington, D.C. menu:  Amish Chicken.

In just two words the healthy, moral, clean, wonderful world we imagine and connect with the Amish was fully summarized, and conveyed into a powerful motivational message.

Brilliant. And I doubt if the chef even knows what a copywriter is.

I decided then and there we’d do Amish Chicken at Tom’s Memorial Service.

What are the two words you want yourself or your organization to be remembered by?

Roger

P.S.  Email me at Roger@theagitator.net and I’ll share the recipe for Amish Chicken and its accompaniments with you. Bon appetit.