Howard Luck Gossage (1917–1969) was an American advertising innovator and

iconoclast Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

during the "Mad Men" era, frequently referred to as "The

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

of San Francisco". Out of a converted firehouse nestled in San Francisco's Barbary Shore neighborhood, Gossage created the headquarters of his advertising agency (Freeman, Mander & Gossage). The building would become a salon where many of the era's influential thinkers congregated, from

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

Stan Freberg Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, puppeteer, radio personality and advertising creative director. His best-known works include " St. George and the Dragonet ...

. A non-conformist who railed against the norms of so-called scientific advertising in his day, Gossage introduced several innovative techniques to the advertising practice that would only become appreciated decades after his death. The Firehouse

Gossage is credited with discovering the media theorist

Marshall McLuhan Herbert Marshall McLuhan (, ; July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media studies, media theory. Raised in Winnipeg, McLuhan studied at the University of Manitoba a ...

, introducing him to media and corporate leaders thereby providing McLuhan his entry into mainstream renown. More widely, Gossage was involved in some of the first environmental campaigning in the USA with the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

, and in the establishment of

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

through his friendship with

David Brower David Ross Brower ( ; July 1, 1912 – November 5, 2000) was a prominent environmentalist and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies (1997), Friends of the Earth (1969), Ear ...

. Co-founder at age 36 of the advertising agency Wiener & Gossage, Howard Gossage is listed 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 ...

'' at number 23 of its 100 advertising people of the 20th century. AdAge.com calls Gossage a "copywriter who influenced ad-makers worldwide." Today when advertising is disliked and avoided by most people, Howard showed that commercial communication worked best when it was fun, irreverent and entertaining, using humour, intrigue and sometimes outrage to win his audience's attention, affection - and custom.

Quotes

He is known for many outspoken comments on the advertising world:

Ad campaigns

Scientific American - Paper Airplane campaign

Books, radio, podcasts

''Ist die Werbung noch zu retten'' a compilation of Howard Gossage's articles and speeches edited by Barrows Mussey was published in West Germany in 1967. Republished by Dominik Imseng, 2017. In 1986, the above was edited by Prof Kim Rotzoll, Jarleth Graham and Barrows Mussey, and published in the US as ''Is There Any Hope for Advertising?'' Bruce Bendinger compiled ''The Book of Gossage'' in 2005, bringing together Howard's work, writing and contributions by Jeff Goodby, Stan Freberg, Barrows Mussey & Alice Lowe. In 2012 Creative Director Steve Harrison authored a biography about Howard Gossage entitled ''Changing the world is the only fit work for a grown man''. In 2023 Ashley Pollak & James King were commissioned to produce a radio documentary for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

called
The Socrates of San Francisco
The programme was broadcast on the 20th May 2023.
The Firehouse Salon
' is a podcast started in 2023 which looks at the themes of Howard's life in greater detail and explores how that thinking is relevant today in the fields of environmentalism, economics, politics and communication. David Dye & Steve Harrison published ''The Howard Gossage Show - And What it Can Teach You About Advertising, Fun, Fame and Manipulating the Media.'' in 2024 which shares previously unseen advertisements produced by Howard's agency.

References

1917 births 1969 deaths American marketing people Advertising theorists {{Advertising-stub