Avis said, "We're second. So we try harder." The first sentence was indisputably true. They were second to Hertz in the car rental business, and everybody knew it. This lent credibility to the second sentence. When heard or read, these two sentences were "converted" in the minds of potential car renters to, "Since they must try harder, they'll make life easier for me." Then they rented from Avis, rather than Hertz. Business boomed with this slogan as the underlying position in all sales mess.