Before Setting Law & Order In Place, Dick Wolf Was Known For Extremely Controversial Ads
Let’s just say it was a change for the better.
It's not surprising that many professionals in the film industry got their start on smaller sets. While actors and cinematographers could be seen working on music videos, makeup artists did plenty of photo shoots and fashion videos, but the area that united the most growing talent was commercials.
Nowadays, video commercials are losing popularity as many services allow viewers to turn on and skip commercials instead of watching them for an additional fee.
However, this wasn't always the case, and back in the 70s-80s, advertisers would fight and pay crazy amounts of money to get the best prime time slot for their product.
The commercial itself had to be short, compelling and provocative enough to be remembered. While selling products to TV viewers was certainly an art to be studied, there were some writers who excelled at it. Dick Wolf was one of them, with his commercials remaining in the conversations of many Americans.
That’s right, the same Dick Wolf who would later go on and build up a whole universe of procedural dramas on CBS, started out as the commercials’ writer too. He was the mastermind behind Crest’s slogan “You can't beat Crest for fighting cavities” and National Airlines’ "I'm National; Fly Me", which caused a huge controversy.
Perhaps, that was the time Wolf realized that selling people stuff wasn’t a career path of his dreams. The advertisements must’ve been working just fine as a job, but Wolf had an ambition that needed to find its way out:
“I turned 30 and realized I didn't want to sell toothpaste for the rest of my life,” the writer stated in Law & Order: The Unofficial Companion book.
Fortunately for both the series creator and the viewers, his pitch for Law & Order, which was initially passed over by not one but two networks, landed at CBS and launched an era of shows that kept viewers glued to their screens.
All of the ongoing shows in the Law & Order universe are set to return with new seasons, but production has been delayed due to the writers' and actors' strikes. Keep an eye out for important behind-the-scenes news and release date announcements.