One flying tire, a broken glass window, and a little old lady have earned their place in TV
commercial history. Joining the ranks of Charmin's Mr. Whipple, Wendy's affable founder Dave Thomas and the Lonely Maytag
Repairman, is the little old lady from the Discount Tire ad, which has just earned the company a place in Guinness World
Records™ as the Longest Running TV Commercial.
The little old lady was made famous by throwing a tire through the glassstorefront of a Discount
Tire store back in 1975, as part of Discount Tire's 10-second ad, which includes these words: "If ever you're not satisfied
with one of our tires, please feel free to bring it back. Thank you, Discount Tire Company." The shattered glass from the
impact then forms the words, "Discount Tire Company." Known as the "Thank You" ad, it has been so well received by the
public that the company has aired it continuously in its original format for more than 29 years. The simple, short-but-sweet
ad was also named "The World's Best Broadcasting Advertisement" by the Hollywood Radio and Television Society in 1976.
Robert Natkin Advertising of Scottsdale, Ariz., was called in to develop a TV ad campaign to highlight Discount Tire's
customer satisfaction philosophy. The film crew gathered in an Arizona store parking lot one Sunday, ready to have the
66-year-old woman who played the little old lady throw the tire through the window. Unfortunately, it turned out that the
tire was too heavy for her to toss, so a small man dressed in little old lady clothing stood in for her to make the throw.
The window failed to break on the first pitch, and although the second attempt shattered the glass, the tire did not
directly strike the Discount Tire logo, as desired. With the window replaced, the third toss proved to be the charm.
Discount Tire has come a long way from the days when it had to scrape together the funds to produce this simple
10-second spot. In fact, the company's humble beginnings are the classic rags-to-riches American story, starting with
one man, one small storefront, and an inventory consisting of two new tires and four retreads. Discount Tire now has
more than 560 stores and 9,000 employees and is ranked number 171 on Forbes' 500 Private Companies list.
