Ralston Purina had just invented a whole new kind of cat food and they were eager to develop an advertising campaign that was as creative as the product. With great excitement, they invited a bunch of writers and art directors from Wells, Rich, Greene to their headquarters in St. Louis so we could be briefed [...]

When you’re a true adman, you’re always selling something.  Even if it’s yourself…romantically…to your wife.  One lovely Saturday evening, on a night the kids were gone and Carol and I were alone in the house, I suddenly got inspired.  (Don’t turn away, this is a cute story.) At the time, we were living in a [...]

I think of myself as an honest, principled and loyal person.  But there’s no way to start an ad agency and hang onto your day job without being a little sneaky.  Bob Pasqualina and I loved working at Wells, Rich, Greene. But we dreamed of having our own agency.  Charting our own course.  Seeing our [...]

I wasn’t supposed to go into the advertising business.  My real destiny lay in the steel business like my father and his father before him. In 1933, my Grandpa Joe Cohen started a company called Northeastern Fabricators.  It specialized in taking raw steel and fabricating it into essential things for buildings like stairways and handrails [...]