Ad Legends Archives - Adpulp

Ad Legends Who Shaped the Modern Craft of Advertising

David Burn — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 18:10:19 +0000

TikTok challenges, retargeting ads, GDPR, crypto, and cookies. Is this the advertising business that we inhabit today? It feels foreign and disorienting. Not because the pace of change is too great. The problem is we refuse to pause and assess the value of the shiny new digital objects. At the same time, the fundamentals of […]

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Tom Burrell, Ad Legend

David Burn — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 13:16:39 +0000

Tom Burrell was born in 1939 and he grew up on Chicago’s South Side. When he entered the advertising agency business in 1961, he was one of the first black people in the entire city of Chicago to work in the field. Vince Cullers may have been the first. To say that Burrell is a […]

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Lester Wunderman, Ad Legend

David Burn — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 00:50:54 +0000

“Data is an expense – knowledge is a bargain. Collect only data that can become information, which, in turn, can become knowledge. Only knowledge can build on success and minimize failure. A company is no better than what it knows.” —Lester Wunderman, from his book Being Direct Lester Wunderman was born in Bronx, New York […]

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Raymond Rubicam, Ad Legend

David Burn — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 20:39:34 +0000

Raymond Rubicam was born on June 16, 1892, in Brooklyn, New York. He was the youngest of eight children. His father—a trade journalist—died of tuberculosis in 1895 and young Raymond was sent to live with his older brothers and sisters. By the age of 15, he was working full-time as a shipping clerk’s helper for […]

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Phyllis Robinson, Ad Legend

David Burn — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 11:56:52 +0000

Phyllis Kenner Robinson was born in New York City on Oct. 22, 1921. At age seven she declared her desire to become a poet. A few years later, she updated her ambitions. Unlike her peers, she knew she wanted to write advertisements from an early age. “I can remember that as a kid I was […]

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Bill Bernbach, Ad Legend

David Burn — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 13:11:10 +0000

Bill Bernbach is the most quoted, most respected, and most beloved advertising man in history. The Jewish kid from Brooklyn changed the score on Madison Avenue, and we continue to thank him for that. Bernbach graduated from NYU in 1933. After working in the creative department at Grey—where he met Ned Doyle—he formed Doyle Dane […]

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David Ogilvy, Ad Legend

David Burn — Sun, 06 Jun 2021 02:17:56 +0000

David Ogilvy literally wrote the books on the advertising industry. He wrote the bestselling Confessions of an Advertising Man, and then followed it up with Ogilvy on Advertising. Both books continue to be widely read by students and practitioners today and are considered classics. He was a proper Brit, and a restless student who left […]

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Rosser Reeves, Ad Legend

David Burn — Fri, 28 May 2021 13:09:03 +0000

Rosser Reeves was a rule-breaker, a gifted writer, a visionary business person, licensed pilot, sailboat racer, chess player, and art collector. He was born in Virginia in 1910 and he wanted to become rich. Reeves got what he wanted. In 1934, he moved to New York and went to work as a copywriter for a […]

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Lee Clow, Ad Legend

David Burn — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 17:03:07 +0000

Lee Clow is a living legend, a creative hero, and a guide for many of today’s working professionals. His work will continue to inspire me and many others, including future generations of advertising makers. Lee Clow retired from TBWA\Chiat\Day in 2018. Ten years before that auspicious moment, I wrote this in these pages: The man […]

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Helen Lansdowne Resor, Ad Legend

David Burn — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 16:24:36 +0000

The year was 1911. Her name was Helen Lansdowne. She was a true trailblazer and ad industry pioneer. Known as the best copywriter of her generation, she also became Vice President and ran J. Walter Thompson with her husband Stanley Resor for 40 years. She hired and mentored women writers. She introduced sex appeal to […]

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