Gary Dahl

Gary Ross Dahl (December 18, 1936 – March 23, 2015) was an American businessman and advertising director. He founded and created the collectable toy Pet Rock—smooth stones from the city of Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, in the mid-1970s—which was successful enough to make him a millionaire.

Early life Dahl was born on December 18, 1936, in Bottineau, North Dakota, and raised in Spokane, Washington. His mother was a waitress and his father was a lumber-mill worker. He studied at Washington State University. He worked as a freelance copy editor. the product's investors took Dahl to court and made him pay additional compensations, and by February 1976 the rocks were not selling well, but that was enough to make Dahl a millionaire.

He attempted to follow up his pet rock success by selling "Canned Earthquakes", Dahl's agency, Gary Dahl Creative Services, in Campbell, California, specialized in electronic advertising. He wrote and produced television and radio commercials for a wide variety of businesses.

In 2000, Dahl won the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, In 2001, he published ''Advertising for Dummies.