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Albert Davis Lasker (May 1, 1880 – May 30, 1952) was an American businessman who played a major role in shaping modern
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
. He was raised in
Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...
, where his father was the president of several banks. Moving to Chicago, he became a partner in the advertising firm of Lord & Thomas. He created and produced many successful ad campaigns. He made new use of radio, changing popular culture and appealing to consumers' psychology. A Republican, he designed new ways to advertise election campaigns, especially the Warren Harding campaign of 1920, and became a philanthropist.


Early life and career

Lasker was born on May 1, 1880, in
Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
, Germany, the son of Nettie Heidenheimer Davis and Morris Lasker. His family was
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
. Morris had emigrated from Prussia in 1856, while Lasker's mother was an American citizen. They lived in
Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...
, but Morris had moved Nettie to Germany during her pregnancy for better medical care. The family returned to Galveston within six months, and Lasker spent the rest of his childhood in Texas.Morello, John A.
"Albert Lasker."
In ''Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present'', vol. 4, edited by Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute. Last modified June 26, 2013.
Lasker started working as a
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
reporter while he was still a teenager. He assisted the successful Congressional campaign of the Republican Robert Hawley in 1896. Although Texas politics had been dominated by the Democratic Party since shortly after Reconstruction, in this election, many voters split between the Democrats and the Populist Party, and Hawley won with less than 50% of the votes. In 1898 his father, who disapproved of journalism, persuaded Lasker to move to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
to try an
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
position at Lord & Thomas. After he worked as an office boy for a year, one of the agency's salesmen left and Lasker acquired his territory. During this time, Lasker created his first campaign. He hired a friend, Eugene Katz, to write the copy for a series of Wilson Ear Drum Company ads. They featured a photograph of a man cupping his ear. George Wilson, president of the Ear Drum company, adopted the ads and his sales increased.


CEO of Lord & Thomas

When Daniel Lord retired in 1903, Lasker purchased his share and became a partner with Ambrose Thomas.American National Business Hall of Fame
Lasker purchased the firm in 1912 at the age of 32. Chicago, along with New York, was the center of the nation's advertising industry. Lasker, known as the "father of modern advertising," made Chicago his base from 1898–1942. As head of Lord & Thomas, Lasker devised a copy writing technique that appealed directly to the psychology of the consumer. He taught America to drink a orange for breakfast to sell the perishable fruit in the
Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
, and to buy the Sunkist brand in bulk to compete with Florida oranges. Women seldom smoked cigarettes; he told them if they smoked Lucky Strikes they could stay slender. Lasker's use of radio, particularly with his campaigns for Palmolive soap, Pepsodent toothpaste, Kotex products, and Lucky Strike cigarettes, not only revolutionized the advertising industry but also significantly changed popular culture.


Salesmanship in print

Lasker had an inquiring mind about what advertising was and how it worked. In 1904 he met John E. Kennedy, a former Canadian mounted policeman who had entered advertising. Lasker had believed that advertising was news, but Kennedy told him, " ws is a technique of presentation, but advertising is a very simple thing. I can give it to you in three words, it is 'salesmanship in print'". The pair used this concept with the 1900 Washer Co. (later Whirlpool). Their campaign was so successful that, within four months of running the first ad, they attracted additional clients and their "advertising spend" went from $15,000 a year to $30,000 a month. Within six months, their firm was one of the three or four largest advertising agencies in the nation. In 1908 Lasker recruited Claude C. Hopkins to the firm, specifically to work on the Van Camp Packaging Company ( Van Camp's) account. The relationship lasted for 17 years. Lasker helped create America's infatuation with orange juice. Lord & Thomas acquired the Sunkist Growers, Incorporated account in 1908, when Lasker was 28. The citrus industry was in a slump, and
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
growers were producing so many oranges that they were cutting down trees in order to limit supply. Lasker created campaigns that not only encouraged consumers to eat oranges but also to drink orange juice. He was able to increase consumption enough so that the growers stopped chopping down their groves. Among Lasker's pioneering contributions was the introduction into public schools of classes that explained to young girls about puberty and
menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and Mucous membrane, mucosal tissue from the endometrium, inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized ...
(done to promote Kotex tampons). He is also credited as the creator of the
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
genre, and using radio and television as media driven by advertising.


Business interests

Lasker was an early owner of the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
. He acquired an interest in the team in 1916 and soon purchased majority control. He originated the Lasker Plan, a report that recommended the National Baseball Commission be reformed. This led to the creation of the office of the Commissioner of Baseball. Lasker, along with his business partner Charles Weeghman, are credited with moving the Cubs into the club's current home, Wrigley Field. In 1925, he sold the team to one of his minor partners, William Wrigley Jr. Lasker became the second-largest shareholder in the Pepsodent company, which had become an L&T client in 1916. It was sold to Lever Brothers in 1944. After developing a private estate, Mill Road Farm, in Lake Forest,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, more specifically, West Lake Forest. Lasker had a
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
built on it. The ''National Golf Review'' in 1939 rated the Lasker Golf Course as No. 23 on its list of "Top 100 Courses in the World." Following the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, Lasker donated the entire property to the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
.


Politics

Lasker continued to be active in the Republican Party and showed the party how to use modern advertising techniques to sell their candidates. He was a key advisor in the 1920 Harding campaign, which resulted in one of the largest landslides in history, as Warren G. Harding appealed for votes in newsreels, billboards and newspaper ads and aimed advertising at women who had recently achieved the right to vote. On June 9, 1921, President Harding's appointment of Lasker as chairman of the United States Shipping Board was confirmed by the US Senate. Lasker took the job on the condition that he would serve no more than two years. At the time, he was only the third man of Jewish descent to have been appointed to such a high post in the federal government.Cruikshank & Schultz (2010), ''The Man Who Sold America'', pp. 199–204 Lasker inherited a large mess, with over 2,300 ships under Shipping Board control losing money every day. A full quarter of the fleet were wooden-hulled, and by this time were obsolete. He disposed of useless ships at an average price of $30 a ton, incurring criticism from Congress for "throwing our ships away". His accomplishments included the refitting of the '' SS Leviathan'' for passenger service, as well as originating ship-to-shore telephone services. Lasker, who had no previous experience in the shipping business before his appointment, true to his word, ended his service in office on July 1, 1923.


Later years

After 30 years as its chief executive, Lasker sold Lord & Thomas to three senior executives--Emerson H. Foote, Fairfax Cone, and Don Belding. It became Foote, Cone & Belding in 1942. Lasker married three times. In 1902, he married Flora Warner. The couple had three children before her death in 1934: Mary Lasker Block (1904-1981), Edward Lasker (1912-1997), and Frances Lasker Brody (1916-2009). In 1938, he married actress Doris Kenyon but the marriage ended in divorce a year later. Lasker—and especially his third wife Mary Lasker (married 1940)—were nationally prominent philanthropists. They played major roles in promoting and expanding the
National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...
, helping its budget expand from $2.4 million in 1945 to $5.5 billion in 1985. They founded and endowed the Lasker Award, which has recognized the work of many leading scientists and researchers. On May 30, 1952, Lasker died in New York at the age of 72. He was interred in a private mausoleum at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.


Bipolar disorder

The book "The Man Who Sold America," by Jeffrey L. Cruikshank and Arthur W. Schultz, posits that Lasker had Bipolar II disorder, which affected his personal and work life. Lasker operated at a high energy level. He was frequently expansive, irritable, highly verbal, intensely creative, and insomniac—all symptoms of a condition that today would be called
hypomania Hypomania (literally "under mania" or "less than mania") is a Psychiatry, psychiatric Abnormality (behavior), behavioral syndrome characterized essentially by an apparently non-contextual elevation of Mood (psychology), mood (i.e., euphoria) th ...
. He never ascended to the level of mania that is generally associated with manic depression, or—again in today's vocabulary—a bipolar I disorder, although he sometimes behaved erratically, especially under the influence of alcohol. Most likely, he was afflicted by a bipolar II disorder. Recent research suggests that there is an increased risk of bipolar II disorder among people whose family members suffer from the disorder. Eduard Lasker, Albert's uncle, seems to have had depressive episodes. Morris Lasker, Albert's father, also may have experienced depressions: his rollercoaster financial affairs may have had their root, in part, in some sort of affective illness. Finally, the diagnosis is supported by Lasker's age when the apparent ailment overtook him. Bipolar I—the affective state that is accompanied by wild, manic excess—usually first manifests itself in the teenage years, while the more subtle, hypomanic form of the illness often stays masked until the mid- or late twenties. Lasker was stricken at age twenty-seven.


Legacy and honors

* Albert Lasker was voted to the American National Business Hall of Fame. * He used his great wealth to create and fund the Lasker Foundation to support philanthropic causes, particularly in the area of
medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...
. * Eighty Lasker Award laureates have received a
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
.Lasker Foundation, ''The Lasker Awards''
Accessed November 11, 2010.


See also

* History of advertising


References


Further reading

* Barnouw, Erik. "The Land of Irium". In ''A History of Broadcasting in the United States: Volume 2: The Golden Web''. Oxford University Press US, 1968, p. 9 ff. * * Cruikshank, Jeffrey L. and Arthur W. Schultz. ''The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (but True!) Story of Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Century'' (2010) * Fox, Stephen. ''The Mirror Makers: A History of American Advertising and Its Creators''. William Morrow and Co., 1984. * Gunther, John. ''Taken at the Flood: the Story of Albert D. Lasker.'' Harper and Bros., 1960. (1990 ed. ) * * Morello, John A. ''Selling the President, 1920: Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding''. Westport, CT:Praeger Publishers, 2001. . * Thomas, Lewis. ''The Lasker Awards: Four Decades of Scientific Medical Progress''. Raven Press, 1986. .


External links

*
Lasker Foundation

Albert Lasker Papers
at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lasker, Albert 1880 births 1952 deaths American advertising people American people of German-Jewish descent Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Chicago Cubs executives Illinois Republicans Businesspeople from Freiburg im Breisgau People from Galveston, Texas People with bipolar disorder Lasker Award 20th-century American philanthropists Deaths from colorectal cancer in New York (state)