Franklin Parsons Perdue (May 9, 1920 – March 31, 2005), born in
Salisbury, Maryland
Salisbury ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. Salisbury is the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region, with a population of 33,050 at the 2020 United States census ...
, was for many years the president and CEO of
Perdue Farms
Perdue Farms is the parent company of Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness, based in Salisbury, Maryland. Perdue Foods is a major chicken, turkey, and pork processing company in the United States. Perdue AgriBusiness ranks among the top United S ...
, now one of the largest chicken-producing companies in the United States.
Early life
Frank was the only child of
Arthur Perdue
Arthur W. Perdue (1885–1977) was an American businessman and the founder of Perdue Farms along with his wife Pearl in 1920. The business was started in his backyard, and at the time only produced table eggs from chickens, but eventually grew in ...
and Pearl Perdue (nee Parsons).
Career
Perdue Farms was founded in 1920 by
Arthur Perdue
Arthur W. Perdue (1885–1977) was an American businessman and the founder of Perdue Farms along with his wife Pearl in 1920. The business was started in his backyard, and at the time only produced table eggs from chickens, but eventually grew in ...
[ with his wife, Pearl Perdue who had been keeping a small flock of chickens.] Their son, Frank, joined the company in 1939 at age 19 after dropping out of college at Salisbury University.
Now recognized as a business visionary,[ Frank Perdue's promotion of the Perdue brand through high-profile ]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 ...
resulted in its being the first well-known brand of chicken in the U.S. He turned over leadership of Perdue Farms to his son, Jim Perdue, in 1991.
Perdue Farms developed a specialized chicken-feed that included marigold blossoms, which imparted a characteristic golden yellow hue to the skins of his chickens.
It has been reported that in the 1980s, Perdue twice sought assistance from then-Mafia boss Paul Castellano to fend off a union's effort to represent workers at his company, according to a federal commission on labor corruption.
Advertising
In 1971, Perdue Farm embarked on its first major advertising campaign and had contracted the firm of Scali, McCabe, Sloves. The firm came up with the idea of putting Perdue on television himself, with the tag line, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken."[ This was fairly radical because at the time, CEOs were not usually public spokespersons for their firms.][ The first commercial, shot in the city park in Salisbury,] was ranked by ''Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...
'' as one of the best campaigns of the year.[ It was so successful that he went on to appear in over 200 of Perdue Farms' television commercials, although he was known for his shyness as well. Many of the commercials were known for Perdue actually encouraging people to voice any complaints or dissatisfaction with Perdue products, usually ending with Perdue stating "Say whatever you have to say; I can take it".]
Through this advertising, Perdue is credited with creating the first recognized brand for chicken.[
]
Death
According to Perdue company officials, Perdue died on March 31, 2005, after a brief illness. He was 84.
Legacy
In 1983, Perdue received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
.
The Franklin P. Perdue School of Business was established at Salisbury University in 1986 and named for Frank Perdue.
In 1991, Frank Perdue was honored with an Edison Achievement Award for his commitment to innovation throughout his career.
Frank Perdue was a patron of treasure hunter Mel Fisher
Mel Fisher (August 21, 1922 – December 19, 1998) was an American treasure hunter who spent decades treasure hunting in the Florida Keys and is best known for finding the 1622 wreck of the ''Nuestra Señora de Atocha'' in the 1970s.
Early lif ...
, helping fund his expedition to locate the wreckage of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha
''Nuestra Señora de Atocha'' () was a Spanish treasure galleon and the most widely known vessel of a fleet of ships that sank in a hurricane off the Florida Keys in 1622. At the time of her sinking, ''Nuestra Señora de Atocha'' was heavily l ...
, which had sunk off the coast of the Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...
in 1622. Fisher eventually found the galleon and in 1985 and recovered more than $400 million in gold and gems. Perdue donated much of his portion of the recovered gems and coins to the Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
and to Delaware Technical Community College
Delaware Technical Community College (previously Delaware Technical & Community College, also known as DTCC, Delaware Tech, or Del Tech) is a public college, public community college in the U.S. state of Delaware. Delaware Tech is an open admis ...
.
References
External links
Frank Perdue Tribute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perdue, Frank
1920 births
2005 deaths
American advertising people
Salisbury University people
People from Salisbury, Maryland
American chief executives of food industry companies
Businesspeople from Maryland
Perdue family