The guys on the porch for Bartles and Jaymes, Saturn's Spring Hill soul and Ronald Reagan's Morning in America--all these brand footprints were left by Hal Riney, who died of cancer yesterday.

Over his 50 year career Riney created advertising that became popular culture, and with his "Different Kind of Company," created a different kind of automotive advertising. His famous spot for Reagan's 1984 campaign brought the Soviet bear to our shores and featured Riney's own scratchy voiceover.





Starting his career at BBDO, San Francisco, in 1976 he helped open Ogilvy & Mather's office there, buying out Ogilvy's stake to start his own agency, Hal Riney & Partners, in 1985, then picking up the remaining 40 percent the next year. The shop lasted as an independent over a decade before selling to Publicis in 1998.

Riney will long be one of the names most associated with San Francisco advertising, alongside local titans like Howard Gossage. He influenced many of the city's agencies and big players, including Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein. Silverstein, Riney and Gerry Graf gathered in 2005 to talk to us about legacies and mentoring.

Read more on Riney's life, including an obituary by Jeff Goodby.