Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 – June 7, 1971) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

executive and the founder of Leo Burnett Company, Inc. He was responsible for creating some of advertising's most well-known characters and campaigns of the 20th century, including

Tony the Tiger Tony the Tiger is the advertising cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes (also known as Frosties) breakfast cereal, appearing on its packaging and advertising. Tony has also been the mascot for related cereals such as Tony's Cinnamon Kru ...

, the Marlboro Man, the Maytag Repairman, United's "Fly the Friendly Skies", and

Allstate The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Northfield Township, Illinois, near Northbrook since 1967. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993 but still partially owned by ...

's "Good Hands", and for garnering relationships with multinational clients such as

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

, Hallmark and

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

. In 1999, Burnett was named by ''

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'' as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Biography

Leo Burnett was born in

St. Johns, Michigan St. Johns is the largest city and county seat of Clinton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,698 at the 2020 census. St. Johns is located in the north of Clinton County, surrounded by Bingham Township (although the two ...

, on October 21, 1891, to Noble and Rose Clark Burnett. Noble ran a dry goods store and as a young man, Burnett worked with his father, watching Noble as he designed ads for the business. After high school, Burnett went on to study

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and received his bachelor's degree in 1914. Burnett's first job after college was as a reporter for the Peoria ''Journal Star'' in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Ce ...

. In 1917 he moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

and was hired to edit an in-house publication for Cadillac Motor Car Company, Cadillac Clearing House, later becoming an advertising director for that institution. At Cadillac, Burnett met his advertising mentor, Theodore F. MacManus, whom Burnett called "one of the great advertising men of all time". MacManus ran the agency that handled Cadillac's advertising. In 1918, Burnett married Naomi Geddes. The couple met at a restaurant near the Cadillac offices, where Naomi was a cashier. They went on to have three children: Peter, Joseph and Phoebe. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Burnett joined the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

for six months. His service was mostly at

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

building a

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * Br ...

. After the USN, Burnett returned to Cadillac. A few employees at Cadillac formed the LaFayette Motors Company – triggering Burnett to move to

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

to work for the new firm. Soon he was offered a position with Homer McKee. He then left LaFayette and joined McKee, where Burnett said of the founder, "(He) gave me my first feel of what I have come to regard as the "warm sell" as contrasted to the "hard sell" and "soft sell". This was his first agency job. Grave of Leo Burnett (1891–1971) at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago

Grave of Leo Burnett (1891–1971) at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago

After spending a decade at McKee's, and working through the stock market crash of 1929, Burnett left the company. In 1930, he moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and was hired by Erwin, Wasey & Company, where he was employed for five years. In 1935, Burnett founded the Leo Burnett Company, Inc. Later, the operation moved to the 18th floor of the London Guarantee Building. Today, the agency has 9,000+ employees in over 85 offices globally. In December 1967, nearing the end of his career, Burnett delivered his "When To Take My Name Off The Door" speech at the agency's holiday gathering. On June 7, 1971, Burnett went to his agency, pledging to colleagues to work three days per week due to health problems. That evening, at age 79, he died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at his family farm in

Hawthorn Woods, Illinois Hawthorn Woods is a village in Fremont and Ela townships in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 9,062. The village is located approximately northwest of downtown Chicago. Hawthorn Woods was officially ...

. He is buried at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.

Leo Burnett Company

private company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

formed in 1935 and officially running under the name of " Leo Burnett Company, Inc.", the agency started with working capital of $50,000, eight employees and three clients. Now a part of Publicis Groupe, Leo Burnett is one of the largest agency networks with 85 offices in 69 countries and 9,000+ employees. For the first several years, Burnett billed about $1 million annually. By 1950, billings had increased to $22 million, and by 1954 the company was at $55 million annually. By the end of the 1950s, the Leo Burnett Company was billing $100 million annually.

Companies Burnett worked with

(1957) *

Commonwealth Edison Commonwealth Edison, commonly known by syllabic abbreviation as ComEd, is the largest electric utility in Illinois, and the in Chicago and much of Northern Illinois. Its service territory stretches roughly from Iroquois County on the south ...

(1954) *First Brands (1961) *

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

Oldsmobile (1967) * Green Giant (1935) *

Heinz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the co ...

Pet Products (1958) * Keebler Co. (1968) *

Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toa ...

(1949) *

Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arran ...

(1984) *

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in mor ...

(1970) * Maytag (1955) * Memorex (1968) *

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

(1967) * Philip Morris Co. (1954) * Pillsbury (1944) *

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

(1952) * Schlitz Brewing Company (1961) * Starkist (1958) *

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

(1965)

Notable creations

*Hubert The Lion arris Bank* Jolly Green Giant reen Giant* Keebler Elves eebler* The Marlboro Man hillip Morris Co.* Maytag Repairman aytag* Morris the Cat Lives* Pillsbury Doughboy illsbury*

Tony The Tiger Tony the Tiger is the advertising cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes (also known as Frosties) breakfast cereal, appearing on its packaging and advertising. Tony has also been the mascot for related cereals such as Tony's Cinnamon Kru ...

ellogg's Frosted Flakes* Toucan Sam ellogg's Froot Loops

Advertising techniques

Burnett used dramatic realism in his advertising, the Soft sell approach to build brand equity. Burnett believed in finding the "inherent drama" of products and presenting it in advertising through warmth, shared emotions and experiences. His advertising drew from heartland-rooted values using simple, strong and instinctive imagery that talked to people. He was also known for using "cultural archetypes" in his copy, by creating mythical creatures that represented American values. This is evident on such campaigns as Jolly Green Giant, Pillsbury Doughboy,

and more famously the Marlboro Man. Indeed, these campaigns played on the 1950s attitudes towards masculinity that pervaded his campaigns.

Corny language

Burnett was known for keeping a folder in the lower left-hand corner of his desk called "Corny Language". He collected words, phrases, and analogies that struck him as being particularly apt in expressing an idea.

Social advertising

In 1947, Burnett wrote ''The Good Citizen'', a booklet concerning the duties and privileges of being a U.S. citizen. This was done as a public service for The Advertising Council and The American Heritage Foundation.

References

External links

''Time'' 100 profile – Leo Burnett

When to Take My Name Off the Door Speech, Text

Leo Burnett Worldwide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Leo 1891 births 1971 deaths University of Michigan alumni Burials at Rosehill Cemetery Businesspeople from Chicago American copywriters American advertising executives People from St. Johns, Michigan 20th-century American businesspeople