IN 1987, a striking new piece of graffiti was discovered on the Berlin Wall.
The Glasgow Miles Better campaign character, Mr Happy, was painted on the Wall, said the Evening Times, âright under the noses of East German guards - thatâs their watchtower to the right of the artwork, only yards from Checkpoint Charlieâ.
The main image here was taken not by an Evening Times photographer but by Malcolm Munro, then a student of architecture at the University of Strathclyde, while he was on a study trip.
His attention was caught by the familiar symbol, painted by two artists, Norry and Mike.
âThere were quite a few students over from Glasgow in Berlinâ, Malcolm told the paper. âObviously, some of them decided to get the message over.
âThe Berlin people were friendly and made us welcome. I crossed through to the East twice. It was on one of the visits that I spotted the logoâ.
The Glasgowâs Miles Better campaign was hugely successful and brought the city worldwide publicity. Indeed, there were reported sightings of Miles Better stickers in the Himalayas and in a town called Khabarovsk, eight days and 6,000 miles east of Moscow.
The campaign was launched amidst considerable fanfare in June 1983, and it was clear that much was riding on its success.
Dr Michael Kelly, the Lord Provost at the time, said: âGlasgowâs old image as a city associated with drink, dirt and crime still plagues us. This does great harm.
âHaving travelled abroad a lot, I know that the problem of Glasgowâs bad image is the one which is always highlighted.
âPeople inside and outside the city want something done about this. It is time to proclaim the new realityâ.
He would also make the telling point that, by the late 1970s, despite Glasgow having made considerable improvements, âwe werenât getting the credit for it. Fleet Street and BBC2 still regarded the city as the only place to go to cover urban deprivation, violence, bigotry, football hooliganism, and gang warfareâ.
Phase one of the new campaign -- fronted, the Herald noted, âby Mr Happy, a Mr Man character with a cheesy grinâ -- involved encouraging Glaswegians to promote the city and its message as Scotlandâs major commercial and industrial centre, with first-rate tourist and conference facilities and one of the great art collections of Europe.
The second phase would involve spreading the message worldwide; Dr Kelly was waiting for the government to announce that a ban on aircraft advertising was to be lifted; this would allow the slogan to be written in the sky and trailed on a banner behind an aircraft.
The Lord Provost envisaged using this tactic as far afield as New York, it was reported. The city and its âI Love New Yorkâ campaign had provided the inspiration for the Glasgow initiative.
The slogan, Glasgowâs Miles Better, was devised by John Struthers, one of the cityâs most prominent advertising executives.
Struthers had originally suggested Go With Glasgow, but Dr Kelly was not convinced. As he later recounted: âI said to John: âI need a slogan I can die for.â A week later he came back with Glasgowâs Miles Better. He was tentative, but I thought it was superb.ââ
Dr Kelly had three sleepless weeks before the slogan and the campaign were launched. He neednât have worried. The campaign put him, and the city, on the map.
âIt was an external, international campaign, yet I think its greatest benefit was the way it revived the belief Glaswegians had in their own cityâ, he said. âIt released a great reservoir of latent pride. We created a huge buzz in the city, and it was sustained for several years.ââ
The campaign won a host of domestic and international awards (Dr Kelly is seen, left, with one accolade), but Mr Happy was killed off before Glasgowâs Year of Culture began in 1990. In late 1994, however, he was resurrected by city leader Pat Lally, following a determined campaign by Struthers. âI am absolutely delighted to see Glasgowâs Miles Better back againâ, responded Dr Kelly. âIt should never have been away. The campaign captured the imagination of Glaswegians who promoted it into the languageâ.
Read more: Herald Diary
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.Â
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.Â
That is invaluable.Â
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalistâs job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readersâ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readersâ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the âreport this postâ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel