Emerson H. Foote (1906 – July 5, 1992) was an American business and advertising executive who served as former chairman of

McCann-Erickson McCann, formerly McCann Erickson, is an American global advertising agency network, with offices in over 120 countries. McCann is part of McCann Worldgroup, along with several other agencies, including direct digital marketing agency MRM//McCa ...

. Foote later became an anti-smoking activist after resigning from McCann-Erickson.

Early life

Emerson Foote was born in 1906 in

Sheffield, Alabama Sheffield is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Florence-Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Area. The population was 9,403 at the 2020 census. and was estimated to be 9,307 in 2023. Sheffield is the birthplace o ...

. He graduated from

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a publ ...

in June 1922. Foote then enrolled at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 1924.

Career

Foote first worked on tobacco accounts in December 1938, for the

American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter, Goodwin & Company, and Kinney Brothers. The company was one of the or ...

. In 1942, Foote was a co-founder of Foote, Cone & Beldin. In 1948, Foote caused controversy when as president of Foote, Cone & Beldin, cancelled a $12 million

Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Name Lucky Strike was introduced as a brand of plug tobacco (chew ...

account. Foote served as president of Foote, Cone & Beldin until 1950. Foote joined McCann-Erickson on October 19, 1951 as vice president and served in that capacity until 1957. He was named president of McCann-Erickson in 1960 and served until 1963. Foote was named chairman in 1963. In 1964, Foote resigned as chairman from McCann-Erickson due to his opposition handling cigarette accounts. Foote was later elected the first chairman of the National Interagency Council on Smoking and Health and took office on December 1, 1964. Foote was also a life member of the board of directors of the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

Personal life

Foote suffered from

stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

. Foote was a former chain-smoker and quit around 1959. Foote married his wife, Sabina Fromhold, on April 18, 1938. His wife predeceased him in 1985. They had four children: one son and three daughters. Foote died on July 5, 1992, in

Carmel, New York Carmel (pronounced ) is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town had a population of 33,576. The Town of Carmel is on the southern border of Putnam County, abutting Westchester County, ap ...

, at age 85 due to complications from an

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

operation.

In popular culture

Foote is referenced in the AMC series ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

'' in the episode Blowing Smoke, when

Don Draper Donald Francis "Don" Draper, born Richard "Dick" Whitman, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), portrayed by Jon Hamm. At the beginning of the series, Draper is the charismatic yet en ...

after losing the Lucky Strike account, issues an ad for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', "Why I'm Quitting Tobacco".

Books

* Foote, Emerson. (2014). ''The Lost Diary of a Real Mad Man: Tales of Advertising & Mental Health'', American Academy of Advertising, (posthumously)

References