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Philip B. Dusenberry, 71, Adman, Dies
By LOUISE STORY
Published: December 31, 2007
Philip B. Dusenberry, the advertising executive who oversaw the 1980s Pepsi commercial in which Michael Jackson’s hair was accidentally set on fire, died on Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 71.
Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
Philip B. Dusenberry in 2001. His ads for New York tourism featured Yogi Berra conducting the New York Philharmonic.
The cause of his death was lung cancer, for which he had received treatment for a year, according to Roy Elvove, a spokesman for the advertising firm BBDO.
Mr. Dusenberry oversaw the teams at BBDO, an ad agency in the Omnicom Group, that coined famous taglines like “The choice of a new generation” for Pepsi, “We bring good things to life” for General Electric and “It’s everywhere you want to be” for Visa.
Throughout his career, Mr. Dusenberry emphasized entertainment in TV ad spots, believing that human stories were more attention-grabbing than product details.
“I’m always going to be searching for emotion,” Mr. Dusenberry said in an interview with The New York Times in 1986. “In an age when most products aren’t very different, the difference is often in the way people feel about the product.”
In one Pepsi commercial that attracted national attention in 1985, Geraldine A. Ferraro, the 1984 Democratic nominee for vice president, sat with her two daughters and talked about life.
“There’s one choice I’ll never regret,” Ms. Ferraro told them. “Being a mother.”
Most recently, Mr. Dusenberry worked as a volunteer on a team that created the “Generous Nation” public service announcement that featured the line, “Don’t almost give. Give.”
Philip Bernard Dusenberry was born on April 28, 1936, in Brooklyn, the eldest child of a cab driver. He attended Emory & Henry College, in Virginia, on a baseball scholarship, but he dropped out after the athletic program and his scholarship were discontinued.
After taking voice lessons to try to lose his Brooklyn accent, Mr. Dusenberry worked as a radio disc jockey. He got his first taste of writing for commercials when the station manager asked him to fill in for the ad writer.
Mr. Dusenberry followed a radio colleague to BBDO, which was then called Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn. One of his early commercials for Gillette Right Guard is still remembered as a standout spot in the 1960s. It featured two men chatting through a bathroom medicine chest.
Mr. Dusenberry rose to prominence at BBDO in the 1980s, when he was executive creative director. The advertising industry began a wave of consolidations during those years, and many advertising executives were afraid that the trend might hurt creativity. Mr. Dusenberry, on the other hand, publicly supported the idea of mergers. “Bigness is not an enemy,” he told The Times in 1986.
Mr. Dusenberry was an early advocate of using cinematic techniques and special effects in TV spots, and he often cast celebrities in ads. PepsiCo was one of his longtime clients, and the ads starred celebrities like Lionel Richie, Don Johnson, Madonna and Michael J. Fox.
Mr. Jackson was sent to the hospital in 1984 while taping a Pepsi commercial, after special effects meant to produce smoke accidentally exploded. In one negotiation with Mr. Jackson for a Pepsi ad, Mr. Dusenberry demanded that the singer not wear sunglasses in the spot, according to Mr. Dusenberry’s memoir, “One Great Insight Is Worth a Thousand Good Ideas,” which was originally called “Then We Set His Hair on Fire.”
His ads were known for their compelling story lines.
“He does the sort of commercials that you call your wife and kids in from the other room to watch by saying, ‘It’s on again,’” said John F. Bergin, the vice chairman of McCann-Erickson Worldwide, told The Times in 1986. “He simply comes up with magic.”
Mr. Dusenberry’s focus on advertising as entertainment was prescient of future shifts in advertising. Today, many advertising agencies promote advertainment, commercials that are entertaining in their own right and are sought out by consumers rather than avoided.
Mr. Dusenberry also dabbled in the film business. He was a co-author of the screenplay for the movies “Hail to the Chief,” a 1973 political satire, and “The Natural,” starring Robert Redford. President Ronald Reagan hired him to work on his campaign commercials and the film that introduced Mr. Reagan at the Republican National Convention in 1984.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York, Mr. Dusenberry led the team that made “The New York Miracle” public service campaign to lift the spirits of New Yorkers. And, in 2002, he oversaw the work of several agencies that designed ads to support President Bush’s USA Freedom Corps campaign, which encouraged Americans to volunteer.
When Mr. Dusenberry retired in 2002, he was chairman of BBDO North America. BBDO’s New York office more than doubled its billings under his leadership and won hundreds of awards.
He was inducted in 2002 into the Advertising Hall of Fame, in Washington. In October, he was inducted into the Creative Hall of Fame at the One Club, an organization in New York that promotes excellence in advertising.
Mr. Dusenberry is survived by his wife, Susan; a stepson, Ben Procter; a daughter-in-law, Ilana Sparrow; a brother, Harry, and his wife, Marcy; a brother, Joseph; a sister, Jean Driscoll, and her husband, Jack.
Philip B. Dusenberry, 71, Adman, Dies
By LOUISE STORY
Published: December 31, 2007
Philip B. Dusenberry, the advertising executive who oversaw the 1980s Pepsi commercial in which Michael Jackson’s hair was accidentally set on fire, died on Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 71.
Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
Philip B. Dusenberry in 2001. His ads for New York tourism featured Yogi Berra conducting the New York Philharmonic.
The cause of his death was lung cancer, for which he had received treatment for a year, according to Roy Elvove, a spokesman for the advertising firm BBDO.
Mr. Dusenberry oversaw the teams at BBDO, an ad agency in the Omnicom Group, that coined famous taglines like “The choice of a new generation” for Pepsi, “We bring good things to life” for General Electric and “It’s everywhere you want to be” for Visa.
Throughout his career, Mr. Dusenberry emphasized entertainment in TV ad spots, believing that human stories were more attention-grabbing than product details.
“I’m always going to be searching for emotion,” Mr. Dusenberry said in an interview with The New York Times in 1986. “In an age when most products aren’t very different, the difference is often in the way people feel about the product.”
In one Pepsi commercial that attracted national attention in 1985, Geraldine A. Ferraro, the 1984 Democratic nominee for vice president, sat with her two daughters and talked about life.
“There’s one choice I’ll never regret,” Ms. Ferraro told them. “Being a mother.”
Most recently, Mr. Dusenberry worked as a volunteer on a team that created the “Generous Nation” public service announcement that featured the line, “Don’t almost give. Give.”
Philip Bernard Dusenberry was born on April 28, 1936, in Brooklyn, the eldest child of a cab driver. He attended Emory & Henry College, in Virginia, on a baseball scholarship, but he dropped out after the athletic program and his scholarship were discontinued.
After taking voice lessons to try to lose his Brooklyn accent, Mr. Dusenberry worked as a radio disc jockey. He got his first taste of writing for commercials when the station manager asked him to fill in for the ad writer.
Mr. Dusenberry followed a radio colleague to BBDO, which was then called Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn. One of his early commercials for Gillette Right Guard is still remembered as a standout spot in the 1960s. It featured two men chatting through a bathroom medicine chest.
Mr. Dusenberry rose to prominence at BBDO in the 1980s, when he was executive creative director. The advertising industry began a wave of consolidations during those years, and many advertising executives were afraid that the trend might hurt creativity. Mr. Dusenberry, on the other hand, publicly supported the idea of mergers. “Bigness is not an enemy,” he told The Times in 1986.
Mr. Dusenberry was an early advocate of using cinematic techniques and special effects in TV spots, and he often cast celebrities in ads. PepsiCo was one of his longtime clients, and the ads starred celebrities like Lionel Richie, Don Johnson, Madonna and Michael J. Fox.
Mr. Jackson was sent to the hospital in 1984 while taping a Pepsi commercial, after special effects meant to produce smoke accidentally exploded. In one negotiation with Mr. Jackson for a Pepsi ad, Mr. Dusenberry demanded that the singer not wear sunglasses in the spot, according to Mr. Dusenberry’s memoir, “One Great Insight Is Worth a Thousand Good Ideas,” which was originally called “Then We Set His Hair on Fire.”
His ads were known for their compelling story lines.
“He does the sort of commercials that you call your wife and kids in from the other room to watch by saying, ‘It’s on again,’” said John F. Bergin, the vice chairman of McCann-Erickson Worldwide, told The Times in 1986. “He simply comes up with magic.”
Mr. Dusenberry’s focus on advertising as entertainment was prescient of future shifts in advertising. Today, many advertising agencies promote advertainment, commercials that are entertaining in their own right and are sought out by consumers rather than avoided.
Mr. Dusenberry also dabbled in the film business. He was a co-author of the screenplay for the movies “Hail to the Chief,” a 1973 political satire, and “The Natural,” starring Robert Redford. President Ronald Reagan hired him to work on his campaign commercials and the film that introduced Mr. Reagan at the Republican National Convention in 1984.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York, Mr. Dusenberry led the team that made “The New York Miracle” public service campaign to lift the spirits of New Yorkers. And, in 2002, he oversaw the work of several agencies that designed ads to support President Bush’s USA Freedom Corps campaign, which encouraged Americans to volunteer.
When Mr. Dusenberry retired in 2002, he was chairman of BBDO North America. BBDO’s New York office more than doubled its billings under his leadership and won hundreds of awards.
He was inducted in 2002 into the Advertising Hall of Fame, in Washington. In October, he was inducted into the Creative Hall of Fame at the One Club, an organization in New York that promotes excellence in advertising.
Mr. Dusenberry is survived by his wife, Susan; a stepson, Ben Procter; a daughter-in-law, Ilana Sparrow; a brother, Harry, and his wife, Marcy; a brother, Joseph; a sister, Jean Driscoll, and her husband, Jack.
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