Video: Revisiting Birth of “The Magic is Back”

Remember the Mets old slogan “The Magic is Back”? It was not an organic motto like “The Miracle Mets” or “The Amazins.” It was written by an advertising agency. This video from back then tells the story of when the Mets became the first MLB team to hire an ad agency.

The video has an interesting back story. The reporter from WNEW-TV (now WNYW) is Judy Licht. She interviewed Jerry Della Famina, the legendary ad man who personally wrote the campaign. They must have hit it off because she went on to marry him, despite his extremely questionable “beard” and the lack of buttons on his shirt (you’ll see what I mean when you watch the report).

Years later I worked with Judy at WABC-TV and she was doing a report about something and someone said “You Gotta Believe.” She said “I think my husband wrote that.” I caught up with her afterwards in the newsroom and informed her that indeed, Tug McGraw wrote that, that her husband was the creator of “The Magic is Back.”

Incidentally, Della Famina did not work for the Mets very long. He made some disparaging remarks about the Yankees and the lack of safety in and around Yankee Stadium, so the Mets fired him.

Check out the video: