Whiz Kids - A Rant
Where Have All the Whiz Kids Gone?
A Rant by Ian Summers
Published in Wraparound 2003
When I was asked to write an article on raw youth, I felt challenged and began a rant. Raw youth: been there, done that.
Where are all the art directors who started their careers with me in the sixties? Some were called whiz kids. Is there an art director elephant grave yard? Were we representative of raw youth in our generation? Why is the advertising industry focused on youth, when more than half the population is over fifty years old? Other industries respect experience. In my day as an art director and creative director, young creatives were trained by older more experienced employees. In fact, young people often work at the shoulders of their mentors. Traditions were passed along. In ideal situations, elder employees learned as much from the younger ones as the younger ones learned from them. Did we rebel? Of course we did.
George Lois is one of the fathers of modern art direction – in his seventies; Lois continues to create dazzling work. I asked a half dozen art directors under thirty whether they were aware of his contributions or those of Helmut Krone, Onofrio Paccione, Carl Ally, Amil Gargano, Ron Barrett, Joe La Rosa, and others. They looked at me as if I was speaking Greek. Art directors might still be serving copywriters and sitting in a bullpen, if these greats and many others, had not come before them. There was some recognition of headlines such as:
When you‘re only No. 2, you try harder. Or else. (Avis)
Hertz has a competitor who says he’s only No. 2. That’s hard to argue with. (Hertz)
But nobody can eat just one. (Lay’s Potato Chips)
If they run out of Lowenbrau…..order champagne. (Lowenbrau)
Lemon (Volkswagen introduction)
You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s. (Levy’s Jewish Rye Bread)
Headlines were memorable. They established a product's Unique Selling Proposition. They were created by art director/copywriter teams. The concept of working in collaboration was developed at Doyle Dane Bernbach in the sixties. How many headlines can consumers remember today? Few. Because we rarely see them.
Not a single person interviewed knew the names of the art director, or copywriter who created these ground breaking and memorable campaigns. Those were the days when art directors fought for great ideas. George Lois even stepped out on the ledge of the fourth story and threatened to jump if the Goodman’s Matzo rabbis did not approve his ground breaking layouts. Agencies fired bad clients. Art directors, who fought the men in gray flannel suits and lost, started their own agencies. Good clients pulled their business from agencies who did not remember how to make the cash register ring and followed the mavericks to their new boutiques.
I tried the names of some of the photographers who made some of these images. Onofrio Paccione (CD at Grey when he was 29 and a founder of Leber Katz Paccione, and a photographer of note), Carl Fisher (co-creator of dozens of Esquire covers with George Lois), Harold Kreiger, Howard Mencken, Abe Seltzer, and Peter Papadopoulos to name a few. And only two of the art directors recognized Big City Productions, a much more recent photography emporium owned by Steve Steigman. Big City gave birth to Steve Bronstein and Howard Berman. I didn’t ask about them. I was afraid to find out.
All of these men were my heroes. Yep. They were all men. Women had a much harder time finding their way into the profession then. Of course there were Mary Wells, Judy Blumenthal, and a few others. They were all copywriters.
So what does it all mean in this era of electronic media? The Baby Boomers are reaching retirement. More than half the population is over fifty for the first time in history. And I thought can younger art directors really understand Baby Boomers? And I pondered; older art directors might have some understanding of youth because they were once there. Perhaps the advertising industry ought to take a look at itself and comb the art director elephant grave yards and find those who are still breathing. Bring them back. Have them speak to their own generation. Pay them the salaries they never saw. After all, they were the mavericks during the days When Advertising Tried Harder – during The Golden Age of American Advertising. There just might be some tradition to pass along. Goodness knows the agency world needs it badly.
And agency creatives would discover that the great ads of the double oughts still follow the principles laid down by the likes of Bill Bernbach, David Ogilvy and other heavyweights of the Golden Age. Young art directors and other creatives know the names Doyle Dane Bernbach and Ogilvy and Mather. But do they know why they have survived.
Branding? Well in my opinion, branding has branded itself. Branding finds its roots in the Unique Selling Proposition and Positioning? And agency creatives would have to ask themselves, How effective is my campaign? Is it memorable? Can people really tie the concept to a product? Does it make the client’s cash register ring?
Turn your eyes inward agency creatives and young photographers! Study the history of modern advertising. Here are some books to read. Read anyone one of them. They will amaze you. You may have to hunt for them on the Internet. I couldn’t even find them at Amazon.com. Perhaps you can borrow them from some art director over fifty, if you can find one.
What’s The Big Idea? George Lois and Bill Pitts
George be Careful! George Lois and Bill Pitts
When Advertising Tried Harder, Larry Dobrow
From Those Wonderful People Who Brought You Pearl Harbor, Jerry Della Femina
Ogilvy on Advertising, David Ogilvy
Confessions of an Ad Man, David Ogilvy
Reality in Advertising, Rosser Reeves
The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard
The Mechanical Bride, Marshall McLuhan
Twenty Ads That Shook The World -The Century's Most Groundbreaking Advertising and How It Changed Us All, James. B. Twitchell
Comments
Ian,
Loved the article!
I know of most the people you speak off but then I'm over 50 and bought "When Adv.Tried Harder" on the street in the photo dist. 15 years ago.
Where did I just read an article on Geroge Lois? Adweek on line maybe.
So I found your article timely even if it is 2/3 years old.
Sending you my first "art" book.
Scott
Posted by: Scott Dorrance | January 31, 2006 04:40 PM
Ian,
We have shared this rant together in the past and it is always fun and timely. Thank you for keeping an eye to the past when advertising truley did try harder and its intention was to sell.
I did want to add one book to your list that I am sure was a simple oversight:
The Mirror Makers, Stephen Fox
David
Posted by: David Noyes | February 1, 2006 03:30 PM
Thanks for reminding me of The Mirror Makers. I enjoyed visiting your website and seeing the evolution of David Noyes.
www.noyesstudio.com
Posted by: Ian Summers | February 1, 2006 03:54 PM
Ian,
This is the second time I read this, it still rings true. The people you talk about are the foundation of modern advertising and photography.
History is easily forgetable if we are not reminded of it.
Thanks for the reminder.
Howard
Posted by: Howard Breitrose | February 17, 2006 03:31 PM
Ian
Great thoughts in "Where have all the whizz kids gone" (altho I've only just got to read it - 9 months on!).
There's a book you don't mention, reviewed recently in DesignObserver (http://www.designobserver.com/archives/016970.html)
It really is a great book on the era - and on ALL the work of the whizzest of the whizz kids - Helmut Krone. Check it out, it'll change your understanding of the birth of the creative side of this business.
Keep up the good work
Alain
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October 1, 2006 04:38 PM