BILL BERNBACH: AD INFINITUM Posted by Mara “The truth isn’t the truth until people believe you, and they can’t believe you if they don’t know what you’re 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.” Makes sense, right? The words come from William Bernbach, American creative force, a man widely accepted as the guru of advertising, the copywriter’s copywriter, par excellence. How can you remain unswayed by Bernbach? He slams with his logic. You can’t argue with his headlines. His ideas and words are funny and smart and his messages get you every time, right in the kisser. It’s a pleasure to be surprised, entranced and persuaded by Bernbach’s work. It’s free entertainment. Bernbach’s thinking encapsulates the circus maximus that is American civilization of the second half of the 20th century, the way that Warhol took the everyday graphic Brillo box image, recontextualizing it as something that reflected the place and the times. Bill’s rhythms and methods are offbeat in a goofy yet sophisticated way, just like the best of another American 20th century invention, jazz. Bernbach didn’t write ads, he invented stories that contained all the chutzpah and charm of street-smart New York, with headlines like “You Don’t Have to be Jewish to love Levy’s” for a brand of local rye bread. And I’m still reminded of the ‘We Try Harder’ Avis campaign when I have to choose a rental car, religiously checking the ashtrays of every vehicle I step in, even though I do not smoke. Audacity best describes the full page newspaper ad consisting mostly of white space for Volkswagen’s ‘Think Small’ campaign. Iconic and unique, it was recently voted the most important advertising campaign of the 20th century by Ad Age, the industry’s bible. Bill realized that the best communication was in fact, a conversation between the writer and his audience. To this end, he was the first to combine copywriters and art directors into two person teams, believing that a spark would occur faster if a duo bounced ideas off each other. Think of Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam brainstorming gags on the Dick Van Dyke show and you get the gist. Despite the uncertainy of the world economy, there will always be a place for revolutionaries when it comes to storytelling. When things are tough, the best creative people get more inventive - they cannot help but create. Thinking harder is definitely a challenge. Fortunately, this is something the truly creative mind seems to relish.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 06:06:48 +0000
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