Robert "Bob" Bernstein is an American businessman and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of the advertising company Bernstein-Rein and the founder of Beauty Brands.

Bernstein-Rein

In 1964, Bernstein and Skip Rein opened Bernstein-Rein, a marketing and communications firm located in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. At the time the business was opened, Bernstein had $100 in the bank and took out a $2,500 loan. HappyMeal3

Bernstein-Rein was retained by

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

in 1967. In 1969, the agency created a series of illustrated glasses for McDonald's called the "Happy Cup." In 1977, Bernstein developed the

Happy Meal A Happy Meal is a kids' meal usually sold at the American fast food Chain store#Restaurant chain, restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979. A small toy or book is included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a red cardboard b ...

packaging for McDonald's. The Happy Meal was tested in four cities before being released nationally in 1979. In 1974, Bernstein-Rein was hired by

Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for Co-founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in Rogers, Arkansas, and Midwest City, Oklahoma, in 1962 and 1983 res ...

to do advertising for

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

. The agency worked with Walmart through early 2007. The agency developed the "Buy American" ad campaign for Walmart in the 1980s, and in the 1990s developed the smiley face frequently used in Walmart's television and in-store marketing. The "Buy American" campaign came under scrutiny after a '' Dateline NBC'' episode in December 1992 charged that Walmart "imports a number of its private-label clothes while playing up its ambitious 'Buy America' campaign." Before losing its

account in early 2007, BR was one of the six largest independent ad agencies in the United States (36th largest overall), with 350 employees and annual billings of more than $550 million. In 2008, after losing accounts with Walmart and USAA, its gross income was $45.1 million. In the 1990s, Bernstein-Rein developed its own retail business, Beauty Brands, creating a retail approach it described as "InsideOut Retailing". The agency, which had the entire

Blockbuster LLC Blockbuster or Blockbuster Video is an American multimedia brand which was founded by David Cook in 1985 as a Small business, single home video video rental shop, rental shop, but later became a public store chain featuring video game rentals, D ...

account until early 1994, came up with the slogan "Make It a Blockbuster Night". May 21, 2003 was declared “Bob Bernstein Day” by the mayor of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Personal life

He is married to Dr. Phyliss (née Wolkoff) Bernstein, a clinical

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

. They have three children: Steven Bernstein, Susan Bernstein Luetje, and David Bernstein. The Bernsteins are

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 ...

. They are members of Temple B'nai Jehudah in

Overland Park Overland Park ( ) is the largest city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and the second-most populous city in the state of Kansas. It is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the pop ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. The Phyliss and Bob Bernstein Humanitarian Award at Jewish Family Services (JFS) is granted yearly.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Bob American businesspeople in retailing University of Oklahoma alumni 20th-century American Jews 1939 births Living people 21st-century American Jews