Pic and Scroll

In the 1980s, the advertising community stood in awe of Fallon McElligott, the small Minneapolis agency that dominated every awards show on the planet, and in every medium. (I’m showing just print and outdoor here because the quality of the video is hopelessly degraded in most cases.)

If you feel you’ve seen lots of ads like the ones above, it’s only because the entire industry scrambled to emulate the Fallon style of writing and thinking. The effect reverberates even today, especially since headline-driven concepts are now making a comeback.

You might rightly note that the ads for The Wall Street Journal feel a lot like the ads from Abbott Mead Vickers for The Economist:

Both campaigns launched around the same time in the mid 1980s. I seem to recall that the Economist work came out first, but I would say that Fallon developed a more in-your-face American tone in its work, while Abbott’s campaign stayed very dry and British.

In its early years, Doyle Dane Bernbach was most famous for building brands like Volkswagen and Avis. But in the 1960s and 70s, the agency also took Chivas Regal from being just another Scotch to being a coveted premium brand. 

Fun fact: The creative team presented to the client just once a year. In other words, they had all year long to work on print ideas. Unthinkable today, obviously.

You can see more Chivas work from the archives at Dave Dye’s blog.

Absolutely wrong for so, so many people.

What a dog feels when the leash breaks.

It’s impossible to lose a key that’s always in the ignition.

If you could own any car in the world, what color would you choose?