ANECDOTES FROM THE AD BUSINESS

Rifling through my filing cabinet the other day, I cameas a matter of course; so when he saw a pack of
across two ancient, nicotine-stained items of literature.Philip Morris on a copywriter's desk instead of the
The first was a 1971 copy of Advertising Agehouse brand of Lucky Strike, he hit the roof and
magazine and, the second, that splendid book Fromdemanded to know why.
Those Wonderful People Who Gave You PearlThe offending wretch explained that they were his
Harbour, by Jerry Della Femina. Jerry was, and I hopewife's and that he had picked them up at home in
still is, what may be described as a free spirit who ranerror. Lasker's reply was crushing and unanswerable.
an ad agency in the 60s. He once threatened to jump'Your wife, I presume,' he said, 'has an independent
from his fifteenth-storey office window on Fifthincome?'
Avenue when a client refused to buy a new adUnhappily these days, all the loonies seem to have
campaign. Mr Della Femina was actually on the outsidedeparted the advertising industry; and it now appears
ledge before the client relented.to be staffed by accountants, statisticians and sales
You may be interested to know that the title of hisanalysts. Gone are the practical jokers, the booze
book arose from a billboard he wrote for a Japanesecupboards, the manic drinkers and the three-hour
television manufacturer. Could you get away withlunchbreaks. Gone, too, are the crazy, creative
those kind of sentiments these days? I doubt it.geniuses of the sort I worked with in London agencies
Anyway, after sweeping through Della Femina's book,during the 60s, who sold all of their office furniture to a
which I strongly recommend to anyone with both alocal second-hand shop and then stood back to watch
good sense of humour and no sense of politicalthe confrontation between muscular removal men and
correctness, I took a look at Advertising Age. Itour prissy office manager. This crew also sent a
featured a reminiscent piece by a certain Charlietelegram to the agency's CEO, who was on a
Brower, one of the giants of the American adbusiness trip to Czechoslovakia at the height of the
business and a former chairman of BBDO.cold war. The telegram bore the cryptic message: The
He decided, in 1928 to pursue a career in advertising;red raven flies tonight; and everyone was hoping that
and, as he himself said when he retired, he occasionallyhe would be swiftly arrested by a suspicious KGB. He
damn nearly caught up with it. His recollections containwasn't, but as I remember it, the expectation was
one or two nice anecdotes from a time when thedelicious.
advertising business had a soul and was manned (andThen there was the lapsed genius of a designer who
womanned) by a whole race of colourful eccentrics.always wore a false ginger beard, complete with
He tells of the legendary George Batten who couldear-attachments, to attend client meetings. Why? Who
never remember names so he called everyone Harry.knows. And not to mention the Copy Chief whose
G.B. was a believer in the precept that a clean deskoffice had a balcony and steps leading down into the
means a clean mind. He therefore went around thestreet. On a slow day, he would invite passers-by up
office sweeping papers off everyone's desk on to thefor a drink, which meant that his office was often
floor, thereby leaving his people with wonderfully cleanjammed with an assortment of street traders,
minds, but ankle-deep in assorted papers.road-sweepers and bowler-hatted businessmen - all
He tells, also, of Albert Lasker, an advertising geniusinebriated grand style.
and head of Lord & Thomas, which later becameThose were the days, as they say. Or am I simply
Foote, Cone & Belding. Albert was red-hot on the ideagetting old?
that his staff should buy and use their clients' products