Certain three-word phrases tend to resonate in people’s brains. We encourage people with them (“Go for it!”), we inspire others with them (“Never stop dreaming!”), we demonstrate our solidarity with them (“Ride or die!”), and we share our innermost feelings with them (“I love you!”).
But the one that really stands out is something special that says, “Comfort is within reach.” Something that says, “Life can be better.” Something that says, “We’ve got your back, no matter what… temperature it is.” Three simple words that convey so much:
Hot, Cold, Baby!
Since 2001, Pruett Air Conditioning’s tagline has reassured thousands of Middle Georgia home and business owners that a more comfortable and enjoyable indoor experience is just a phone call away.
This month, we’re going on a historical adventure and getting into the history of Middle Georgia’s most famous tagline!
A Happy Accident
It all started with two billboards outside of Ebbing, Mi… No, that’s not right. It started with a billboard in Warner Robins. In 2001, we bought ad space on both sides of a variable-sign billboard – one of those with revolving slats showing two alternating messages. On one side, our company name in bold red and blue. On the other, a simple question – “Hot? Cold?”
One of our sales team members took that message to heart. So much so that whenever he closed a sale or developed a lead, he’d let out a hearty “Hot, Cold, Baby!”
Some may have found that annoying. Not us. We knew better. Or rather, our president at the time, Tony Davis, knew better. After a few choruses of “Hot, Cold, Baby!” he said, “We’ve got to get that into a commercial!”
How right he was.
The Early Days
In the beginning, “Hot, Cold, Baby!” was just a tagline delivered at the end of an otherwise pretty straightforward TV ad. But our team had another ace up our sleeve:
Catchy tagline + Cute kid = Gold
For several years, the tagline that would come to define our company was delivered almost exclusively by our most adorable team members – our kids!
Several different kids have had the honor of delivering our signature slogan throughout the years, some even appearing in multiple ads before the ravages of time and adolescence forced them out of the role.
“It’s been a while since we used a kid in an ad,” says Jarett Davis, Pruett’s owner, and star of most of our ads since he came on board in 2004. “None of us have any small kids!”
An Ongoing Legacy
After Jarett completed his marketing degree and joined the Pruett team, the “Hot, Cold, Baby!” tagline took on a new life. Since 2004, we’ve made an average of two new ads a year. By and large, the ads before 2004 had been a resounding success, but they soon took off in a big way.
Unusually for a heating-and-air company, the new ads were topical, humorous, and chock full of pop-culture references. From Batman masks to Jon Snow wigs when “Winter is coming,” our ads focus less on how many 3 ½ ton Carrier heat pumps we have in stock and more about having fun as a team. They are funny. They are irreverent. They are, occasionally, kinda gross.
“My favorite was the one where we talked about how loving America means loving Pruett. At the end, I walked up to my brother, who’s out in the heat working on an air conditioner, and I sniffed his armpit.” If you lived in Middle Georgia and watched TV when this ad aired, you will remember Jarett’s look of pride as he stood up and proclaimed, “That’s pure America, right there!”
“We weren’t trying to be divisive, but we got a lot of calls and comments on how gross that ad was,” Jarett remembers. “It was fine; it was early in the day, and he was wearing deodorant.”
Our ads sometimes get a mixed reception. Some folks are huge fans – people continually approach Jarett and other stars of our commercials at the grocery store, going to the movies, and anywhere else in Middle Georgia – or out in the wider world. “We were camping out of state, and some guy came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I know who you are! Hot, Cold, Baby!'” says Jarett. “You think you’d get tired of it, but it never gets old.”
Others are less enthusiastic. Multiple folks have told us over the years that they’d never use our services because our commercials are “stupid.” (These folks may not be our target audience.)
Regardless of how you feel about our ads, there’s no denying that people remember the tagline.
“Every once in a while, someone will come up to me and say, ‘I know you from somewhere,'” says Jarett. “I’ll say, ‘Pruett Air Conditioning?’ and they’ll say, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ But then I say, ‘Hot, Cold, Baby!’ and it clicks.”
More to Come?
“I think my dad,” says Jarett of his father, Tony Davis, the visionary who first saw the tagline’s potential, “was the only one who saw that this could take off.” But take off it has, being featured in more than forty TV commercials to date and featured prominently on our billboards, website, and even our company trucks.
Why has our slogan become so popular? It may have to do with the nature of the words “hot” and “cold” and the way our brains process opposites – by starting with “hot,” the brain almost expects the next word to be “cold,” and the unexpected “baby!” just nails the point home.
Or, it may just be really catchy.
Kids, in particular, seem to latch on to “Hot, Cold, Baby!” You may have experienced this phenomenon yourself – if you have small kids and occasionally pry them away from their devices long enough to watch a little TV together, you might have discovered a little Pruett spokesperson sitting right there on the couch next to you.
We’re not saying that we’re using our funny ads to get our slogan stuck in your head by way of your young’uns, but… if that’s what happens, then at least you’ll know that your kids are pointing you in the direction of a hardworking team of HVAC experts who take our work incredibly seriously – even if we don’t take ourselves too seriously at all.
“It tells people what we’re about,” Jarett says. “It’s lighthearted, it gives people something to laugh about, and if it advertises for Pruett at the same time, that’s great.”
Pruett Air Conditioning Proudly Offers Carrier’s Full Line of Heating and Air Conditioning Products, and We Service Every Major Manufacturer’s Equipment. Hot, Cold, Baby!
From bringing your existing AC back online to installing a new energy-efficient Carrier heat pump, we’ve got you covered! Call today:
Pruett Air Conditioning has offices in Warner Robins and Eastman, GA, so no matter where in Middle Georgia you’re located, Pruett is your local HVAC company.
- Bonaire, GA
- Byron, GA
- Centerville, GA
- Cochran, GA
- Dublin, GA
- Eastman, GA
- Fort Valley, GA
- Kathleen, GA
- Macon, GA
- McRae, GA
- Perry, GA
- Warner Robins, GA