How BBDO Inspired Mad Men

Yesterday's featured Getty Images Ad was by Almap BBDO.

 From what I can tell, Almap is a Brazilian-based arm of the BBDO Agency Network. 

Almap BBDO was named #2 agency of the year in 2008 at Cannes.  BBDO New York was number 1 agency and  BBDO Worldwide was top agency network.  In fact, BBDO won Agency Network of the year for the 5th year in a row in 2011.

2008 was the year that Fallon's Gorilla for Cadbury was the major headline. But BBDO had a lot of success with a number of spots for HBO, and this Voyeur Project Installation was also successful.



The "about" section of BBDO's website links directly back to its Wikipedia page. This says two things:

1) BBDO realise that if someone wants to get information in the digital age, they will go to Wikipedia before anywhere else.

2) The information on BBDO's Wiki is all company-approved.  You won't find any skeletons in the cupboard there.

Their Wiki lists a number of BBDO's current clients. Among them: Gillette, The Economist, AT&T and Starbuck's.

The history of the company section is unlike any other Wikipedia page I've ever seen before.  You have to imagine its curated by BBDO themselves.  It's vast, but I've picked out 5 moments of this New York-based agency for you.

5 Key Moments in BBDO's History:

1928:  September 21, the Batten Co. and BDO merge to form Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BBDO).

1946: Ben Duffy becomes president. Billings quadruple from $50 million to $200 million in ten years. He steps down in 1957 due to illness.

1984: On January 27, Michael Jackson's hair is accidentally set on fire during filming of a Pepsi commercial. Phil Dusenberry, BBDO's executive creative director from 1980 - 2002, later names his memoir "Then We Set His Hair On Fire"

1986: BBDO wins the account of Apple from Chiat/Day, producers of the "1984" Ad. Apple would return to TBWA/Chiat/Day in 1997

1986: Omnicom is formed from the merger between BBDO and DDB Needham. Sometimes referred to as the "Big-Bang" merger.


 I skipped over the early 60s in this list, so here's a separate list of events which may have inspired Mad Men plotlines (show-runner Matthew Weiner cites BBDO as an inspiration for Sterling Cooper).

6 Events of the Early 60s at BBDO that could have Inspired Mad Men

1960 On March 16, Chrysler moves its Dodge Truck and Car Divisions, with billings of $21 million, to BBDO. On April 6, BBDO wins the $17 million Pepsi account after a pitch against seven other agencies.

1961 Jim Jordan creates a campaign for Schaefer Beer based on research that revealed that 80% of the beer was consumed by 20% of the drinkers. The slogan and jingle: "Schaefer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one."

1962 Phil Dusenberry is hired as a junior copywriter.

1963 Jim Jordan creates the campaign "Us Tareyton smokers would rather fight than switch!"

1963 BBDO introduces the slogan "Come alive! You're in the Pepsi Generation." It is the first time a product is identified not by its own attributes but by its consumers' lifestyles and attitudes.

1965 Allen Rosenshine is hired as a copywriter.


The early 60s is the most name-droppy section of the BBDO section.  Tomorrow I'll return with some profiles on Phil Dusenberry, Jim Jordan and Allen Rosenshine.

I also want to talk a bit about Iris, the creative agency who concepted Wenlock and Mandeville. This article in the Guardian piqued my interest in them today. 

Stay classy.