Meandering we go . . .

Today is the birthday of William (Bill) Bernbach (August 13, 1911 - October 2, 1982), one of the three founders of Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) advertising agency. He was a "legendary figure" in the history of American advertising.

Familiar and notable campaigns of Bill Bernbach's are "Think Small" (Volkswagen Beetle), "We Try Harder" (Avis Car Rental), "Mikey" (Life Cereal), "You Don't Have to be Jewish to Love Levy's" (Levy's Rye Bread) and "It's so simple" (Polaroid).

"All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level." - Bill Bernbach

"The truth isn't the truth until people believe you, and they can't believe you if they don't know what your saying, and they can't know what you've saying if they don't listen to you, and they won't listen to you if you're not interesting, and you won't be interesting until you say things imaginatively, originally, freshly." - Bill Bernbach

"Good advertising builds sales. Great advertising builds factories."- Bill Bernbach

"The most powerful element in advertising is the truth." - Bill Bernbach

Bernbach image source (1)