Wells Fargo Cowboy Makes A Real Estate Deal
When a TV star visited Charlotte, North Carolina in 1959, REALTOR® Stuart Elliott and his firm got "publicity for peanuts."
Elliott Real Estate was working to establish a new location for Wells Fargo Armored Service in Charlotte. Then Elliott heard that actor Dale Robertson would be in town to appear at a rodeo. Robertson starred as "Jim Hardie" on the television show "Tales of Wells Fargo" which ran from 1957-1962.
In the September 1959 issue of the Journal of Property Management, Elliott wrote "We were looking for a way to use Robertson in some kind of publicity stunt- the kind that could spotlight our transaction with the Wells Fargo company, and mutually benefit the local publicity desires of Robertson himself and the rodeo promoters."
Vane Mingle, Executive Officer of the Charlotte Board of REALTORS®, knew a newspaper editor who knew Robertson. Wells Fargo provided an armored car and shotgun as props, and the Charlotte News printed a photo of Robertson and a story that featured Elliott Real Estate's deal with Wells Fargo.
"Not everyone can have a 'Jim Hardie' around at an opportune time," Elliott conceded, but "there's almost always an 'angle' with publicity or sales promotion implications- if the REALTOR® will look hard enough."
