Lee Clow (born 1943) is the chairman and global director of TBWA\Worldwide, and had been its

chief creative officer The title Chief Creative Officer (CCO) typically describes the highest-ranking position of a creative team within a media company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, ...

. ''

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 ...

'' referred to him as "advertising's art director guru".

Early life

Lee Clow was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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 ...

, US. He studied at

Santa Monica City College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a Public university, public community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. The coll ...

and

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

Career

Clow is best known for co-creating – along with Steve Hayden –

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...

's ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

'' commercial, which launched the

Apple Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

and the " Think Different" slogan. The 60-second TV spot was made for a budget of $900,000 and is considered a masterpiece in advertising. He is also known for his work on the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

, Energizer Bunny,

Taco Bell chihuahua Gidget (February 7, 1994 – July 21, 2009), nicknamed the Taco Bell Chihuahua, was an advertising figure and mascot for Taco Bell from August 1997 to July 2000. The character she played was developed by TBWA. The Chihuahua is a breed commonly a ...

, and California Cooler campaigns. Clow has helmed campaigns for

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

and

Pedigree Petfoods Pedigree Petfoods is a subsidiary of the American group Mars Inc. specializing in pet food, with factories in England at Melton Mowbray and Birstall, Leeds; and offices at McLean, Virginia. History In 1934, Mars Limited, a division of the lar ...

Personal life

He was a personal friend of

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

for 30 years.

References

American advertising directors Apple Inc. advertising Living people 1943 births {{advertising-stub