As a Campaign Slogan, This One’s Unbeatable

It was June, and Scott Mitchell was stuck in traffic on the 405, as usual, on his commute from Orange County to Westwood, where he is the marketing director for UCLA’s athletic department.

His car might as well have been in park, but his fertile imagination was in gear.

“I get some of my best ideas in traffic,” he said.

That day, his idea was “UCLA, Best Team in Town,” and it was simple enough to add “Six Straight Years.”

A campaign was born, not necessarily to sell tickets but to boost the pride of UCLA alumni and supporters after a 5-6 season.

“I think the one redeeming factor of last year was coming back from being down 17 points with 6:12 to play,” he said, referring to the Bruins’ rally to beat USC at the Rose Bowl, 48-41, in double overtime.

It was UCLA’s sixth consecutive victory over its archrival, and it seemed only right to make sure everybody knew it.

And that’s everybody.

Brochures were printed. Advertisements were put in newspapers and on radio and television. Slides were printed for theaters all over Southern California.

“We heard right away from UCLA fans,” Mitchell said. “They really liked it.

“We didn’t get anything from USC people.”

But the needle found its mark at USC.

“People pretty much put it in the file,” one athletic department official said.

The team took note too, said senior cornerback Brian Kelly, who is down to his last chance to beat UCLA.

“It came out early. We all saw it. Commercials, billboards,” he said. “They deserve everything right now. They’ve got it going. They’ve won six years in a row, and they’re rubbing it in our face. It’s their right, since they won. They can do it if they want to.

“We’ve talked about it, sitting around watching TV, but I don’t think we need any added motivation. The rivalry is motivation enough.”

Mitchell isn’t the least bit surprised.

“UCLA people consider USC as their big game,” he said. “I’m not sure that the people there feel UCLA is their big game because they have Notre Dame on their schedule.

“But there are far worse things than to have a USC fan read [the slogan] and circle the game against UCLA on their schedule.”

And it’s such a handy slogan, so easy to update.

Best Team in Town, Seven Straight Years?

Maybe not.

“I’m not sure that we will do that,” said Mitchell, not meaning to convey any lack of confidence in the Bruins.

“We have a coach we can promote in Bob Toledo. He’s great to deal with, and speaks to groups all the time. People say that he doesn’t have a playbook, that he pulls plays out of a hat. Maybe the Wizard of Westwood?”

Nah. Been done.

“And we have [quarterback] Cade McNown, and they’re already talking about him being a Heisman Trophy candidate. Maybe the two of them together.”

And, being the Best Team in Town for any number of years is a bit limiting.

“We’re getting calls from UCLA fans saying, ‘Best team in town? We’re ranked seventh in the country,’ ” Mitchell said.

“UCLA, Seventh Best in the Country.”

Needs a bit of work, but Mitchell can always count on the traffic on the 405 for inspiration.

Staff writer Robyn Norwood contributed to this story.