George Woltz, creator of “Virginia is for Lovers” campaign, dies

George Woltz, former Richmond, Va. ad executive and creator of the “Virginia is for Lovers” campaign, died July 16 in Naples, Florida. He was 92.

According to an obit, Woltz studied art at RPI (VCU) and went into the advertising business, eventually starting Martin and Woltz, and he led the creative team that developed the iconic slogan “Virginia is for Lovers.” The slogan remains the state’s tourism slogan to this day.

According to an online item, “Virginia is for Lovers” is the tourism slogan for the state of Virginia, adopted in 1969. It has become a well-recognized and iconic part of American jargon. The slogan was created by a creative team at Martin & Woltz Inc., a Richmond advertising agency. The original concept was to use different variations like “Virginia is for History Lovers” or “Virginia is for Beach Lovers,” but the team ultimately decided to simplify it to the current, more inclusive slogan.

In 1975, Martin and Woltz separated into two different agencies. Woltz `created “Woltz and Associates” with a small team of talent from the previous agency, which became The Martin Agency. By the mid 1980’s, he sold Woltz and Associates to Clinton E. Frank of Chicago, which was in turn acquired by Interpublic Group’s Campbell Ewald of Detroit. In both acquisitions, he was asked to remain in a leadership role. By 1990, Woltz was ready to fully retire from advertising

Following retirement, he and his wife Nancy moved to Naples.