Sh-Boom

by Don Potter

  “I’ll pull the media and production costs together. I would like to review them with you before moving ahead. Is that okay?”

  “I look forward to it,” the professor said.

  It took a couple of days to pull the numbers together and to get the professor’s input.

  “Not cheap,” he said.

  “Media will run about $5,000. I’ll see if I can qualify as an agency and get the commission knocked off. The savings will pay for production and preprints of the ad for publicity and promotional purposes. I’ll send out news releases before the ad runs and complete packages to the CEOs and heads of account service for 20 to 25 agencies.” I did not want to tell him this was the last of my savings for fear he would try to talk me out of moving ahead with my plan. I was scared enough as it was.

  “Are you limiting the job search to just New York?”

  “That’s where the action is.”

  “There is Leo Burnett and others in Chicago as well as some good agencies in Minneapolis. Or perhaps the growing markets of Atlanta and Dallas. And, of course, the West Coast as well as right here in Philadelphia.”

  “New York is the center of the advertising world. That’s where I need to be.”

  “You already have New York experience. Perhaps the road to success is one less traveled.”

  “Okay, I’ll send kits to the major agencies in some of the secondary markets. Now I need to get cookin‘ on the creative.”

  I got to work. Then I sent out the pre-ad packages and waited for phone calls from agencies. Six eventually replied and one was from Charlie O’Brian at my old shop, Carlson/Andrews. We set up a meeting in Pittsburgh, away from the office. We sat in the back of the Stouffer’s restaurant near the office. Charlie looked a lot older, or perhaps just tired. “Looking to get back into the rat race, huh?”

  “Yeah, why not?”

  “Why’d you go back to school?”

  “To learn more.”

  “Did you?”

  “Yes.”

  “What?”

  “I learned the consumer is the boss. And research, be it personal or organized, is the way to find out what makes consumers think and buy the way they do.”

  “Impressive.”

  “There’s more.”

  “Your timing may be perfect. Mary Parson’s couldn’t take anymore when General Foods offered us the Kool-Aid business, which meant resigning Welch’s because of a conflict. She left with that account and a handful of her previous clients along with a big payday. Once the New York office was under control, I came back to Pittsburgh to head up account services for all the agency’s offices. But that’s history. We recently were awarded the Stouffer’s frozen food account, which has a great future if we have the right man heading it up. Pete Erskine agrees with me that you’re the guy to get the business up and running.”

  “Will I get to control the whole account? I’m talking about everything, including creative.”

  “It was Pete’s idea, so you’ll have to discuss it with him.”

  “Worth a thought.”

  “Don’t think too hard or too long. Gotta go.” He left me thinking about going back to Pittsburgh. I hadn’t received any other offers worth considering, so perhaps it was time to go home. The next day I called Charlie. He asked me to join Pete Erskine and him to discuss putting me in charge of all elements of the Stouffer’s account. They agreed to give it a whirl.

  Soon I was back in Pittsburgh. This time as a vice president. I worked nonstop for the next six months on the Stouffer’s business. The Saturday before Christmas, I joined my parents for lunch at the country club and ran into the now divorced Ginger Jones. She looked more beautiful than ever, so I asked her out to dinner. To my surprise, she accepted.

  I made reservations at the Hollywood Social Club in Shadyside. It was awkward at first.

  “This is where we first met,” she said.

  “I remember how beautiful you looked.”

  “Your friend Ed introduced you as the world’s greatest ad writer, if I recall. Now what would he say you are?”

  “Older and wiser.”

  “I heard you were successful in New York.”

  “I did okay. And you?”

  Her face clouded. “I was so upset when you dumped me and ran off to New York.”

  “I didn’t dump you. I was off on a new adventure.”

  “Your adventure, not mine. The way I saw it was I wouldn’t put out so you took off?”

  “The company moved me. I didn’t ask for it.”

  “But you never discussed it with me.”

  “Was I supposed to?”

  “Why not?”

  I shrugged. “You’re right, I didn’t.” I apologize for not being more considerate. “Please forgive me.”

  “Never.” She gave me a smile and shook her head. “When you give me that little boy smile, it’s hard to refuse you.”

  “Enough about my past transgressions. What’s been going on in your life since I left like a jerk?”

  She sighed and sat back in her chair. “I met a guy, a man who I thought could help me forget you. We got married and had a baby, Stevie. But my husband cheated on me. He had a weakness when it came to airline stewardesses; now I’m divorced. And you?”

  “Got married, no children, she cheated on me - had a weakness for radical Black protestors - and now I’m divorced. Where do we go from here?”

  “I still have strong Christian beliefs,” Ginger said. “But I’ve learned to be practical too. Let’s go to bed and see if we can erase history.”

  What a surprise. Guess she was a liberated woman, too. We ending up spending the night at the apartment I rented near the office. Boxes were stacked all over, and I didn’t have much in the way of furniture other than a bed – that was all we needed. If I had known how great Ginger was in bed, I might have waited for sex. Then, again, maybe not. It was wonderful. And I wanted more of the woman I jilted for the bright lights of New York. Being with her made coming home to Pittsburgh better than I thought it would be.

  28

  Robert Kennedy, JFK’s brother, is assassinated while campaigning for the US presidency. The Beatles play their last live concert. President Nixon announces 25,000 American troops will be withdrawn from Vietnam. And Rob goes Hollywood.

  * * *

  Mister Carlson invited me to lunch at the Duquesne Club. It was the first time I had been in the agency’s private suite. I sat across from the head of the agency. He had gotten older and thinner since I last saw him. I waited for him to speak first, believing whatever he said was going to be important to me and my future.

  “The Dover sole here is excellent,” he said.

  “Oh,” I hadn’t expected that. “The sole sounds good.”

  “Good choice. Two Dover soles, Peter,” Carlson waved the waiter away and leaned toward me. “You have done very well.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “But you’re finished in this town.”

  “What?”

  He chuckled. “I love doing that. A cheap thrill I don’t get to use much anymore. Sorry to shock you. Two things have happened almost simultaneously. We are buying a San Francisco based agency, Booth, Fisher & Matthews. That agency has international affiliates in major cities to service their biggest client, Japan Airlines.”

  “A West Coast agency?”

  “Yes. The second part of the equation is Stouffer’s has been sold.”

  “To whom?” I tried not to panic.

  “Nestle. They have moved their headquarters to Los Angeles and this new acquisition goes with them. Because of the work you and your people have done on the Stouffer’s account, Nestle management wants us to continue handling that business along with a couple of other brands. We are opening a Los Angeles office and need a talented person to run it. You.”

  “Wow.” I knew there must have been a better response, but I couldn’t think of one at that moment.

>   “Well?”

  “Thank you. When?”

  “Like everything in this business, it should have happened yesterday.”

  The Dover sole arrived and I ate it. Carlson was right, it was very good, I think. I don’t remember.

  I’m sitting at a table again, but this time it’s at the Colony restaurant in suburban Mount Lebanon for dinner that same night and it’s with Ginger. She looked anxious.

  “Do you remember that saying about history repeating itself?” I said and Ginger looked startled.

  “Am I going to like this?” she said.

  “I just got a big promotion.”

  “Great.”

  “But it means moving to Los Angeles.”

  “You’re going to leave me, again?”

  “Not if you come with me.”

  “I can’t just up and leave. I have Stevie.”

  “Do you love me?”

  “Yes.”

  “You do know I love you and Stevie too?”

  “Yes, but I’m not about to move in with you. It just wouldn’t be good for me or right for Stevie.”

  “I had a feeling you might say that. So marry me, and then you two can move in with me.”

  “Oh, my goodness, this is so unexpected.”

  “Life’s unexpected. Well?”

  “Yes, I will.”

  So I landed in southern California with a wife, a son, and a brand new job, more money and the title of Senior Vice President. I was thirty-three and on top of the world. Now I just had to stay there and make this thing work.

  29

  America is the first country to land a man on the moon. National Guard troops kill four students at Ohio’s Kent State University. Coca Cola’s jingle, I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, goes international. And Rob becomes a daddy.

  * * *

  Everyone on the east coast insists the west coast is easy living where everything is put off until tomorrow so folks can go blond, surf and get a tan. How very wrong they are. It was all going well but I had never worked so hard in all my life, and there appeared to be no break ahead. The intercom buzzed.

  “Yes?”

  “Your father’s on line one,” my secretary said. “And wants to know if you’ve joined a decent club. He said both the Jonathan Club and the California Club have affiliations with the Duquesne Club back home.”

  “Or there’s always the Mickey Mouse Club. Tell him I’ll call him back.”

  “Oh, and your wife called.”

  “What does she want?”

  “She says this is the third call today unanswered and wants me to tell you goodbye because she and Stevie are flying to South America this afternoon.”

  “What! Get her for me.”

  Ginger made arrangements to meet at the Hollywood Brown Derby on Vine. Unlike its namesake on Wilshire Boulevard, which actually was shaped like a hat, this restaurant had vaguely Spanish Mission architecture and the walls plastered with caricature drawings of famous movie stars from days gone by. I preferred dining there, never quite understanding the appeal of eating inside a hat.

  “I need something from you, Rob,” Ginger said as we settled into a comfortable red leather booth.

  “What?”

  “For the next half hour or so, I’d like you to pretend to give me your full attention.”

  “I am.”

  She put her hands over my eyes. “What color dress am I wearing?”

  “Uh, blue.”

  She took her hands away and said nothing.

  “Green. Sorry. OK, full attention.”

  “I have some news.”

  “You’re not going to South America.”

  “I’m not going to South America. Soon I’ll be staying at home all day wanting to eat pickles and ice cream.”

  “What?”

  “For a bright man you can be so incredibly dense. We’re going to have a baby.”

  “Really?”

  “We hardly see each other nowadays so it might be an immaculate conception,” Ginger said.

  “A baby. This is wonderful news.”

  Charlie O flew in the next afternoon from headquarters, and I picked him up the following morning at his Santa Monica hotel. He looked like a Pittsburgher and spoke like one. “We can’t be working you hard enough if you have time to get Ginger pregnant.”

  “Baby’s not mine. I had an intern do it because I was too busy.”

  “I read your recommendations for the LA office. Good stuff. You should be proud of yourself, we are. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. What about my consolidation idea? PR and advertising both reporting directly to me?”

  “Wait.”

  “For what?”

  “For Carlson to retire, which will be soon, and then I’ll be president and CEO. Pete Erskine becomes executive creative director and you’ll have friends in high places. So wait.”

  “Okay.”

  “We didn’t have this conversation,” Charlie said.

  “What conversation?” I replied.

  “Exactly, but we do need to talk about the Sunkist account.”

  “That’s a big and prestigious piece of business.”

  “Our San Francisco office handles the PR for Sunkist. The client wants to change ad agencies down here, and we’ve been invited to pitch. But there are no guarantees.”

  “I think we can pitch with the best of ‘em.”

  “There’s one other thing, a PR gal is attached to it if we win the account. She’s handled that portion of the account at Booth, Fisher & Matthews and will be coming down to join your team if we get the business.”

  “Do I know her?”

  “You sure do. Nancy Gates. She left Pittsburgh a while back and moved to San Francisco to head up PR for BF&W before we acquired them. So she’s back with us.”

  “Just what I needed.”

  “She’s got friends at Sunkist, so play nice. Maybe this could be the opportunity to try out that consolidation idea of yours”

  “I can only hope so, but I don’t look at Nancy as a team player, and she’s the world’s biggest gossip.

  “For now, just try to keep those thoughts to yourself and see how it goes.”

  “Won’t make any difference to Nancy, she’ll just make up crap anyway, but I’ll try to play nice and zip my lip like you said.”

  “We need a full court press on Sunkist. We want this to work so more business can come your way,” Charlie laughed then said, “And then you and I can go surfing.”

  Developing the Sunkist campaign was no walk in the park. It took everyone in the office along with a bunch of freelancers to put it together. Nancy and I grinned at each other in passing, but the task was all-consuming and gave us no time for exchanging pleasantries, which was a good thing. To Nancy’s credit she did a good job, as did the rest of the team, and we sold Sunkist on consolidating the entire account with the LA office of Carlson/Andrews.

  Ginger gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Her official name is Elizabeth, forever to be known as Beth, on Saturday September 26th. Ginger handled the labor well, but I was a wreck until the nurse handed me my daughter in the delivery room. What a feeling! Ginger jokingly complained, “I’m so glad the baby came on the weekend, so you weren’t at work when my water broke.”

  Missus Jones came out to stay with us for a few weeks. I hired a housekeeper with childcare experience and Ginger was happy, Stevie was excited about his new sister. Baby Beth had her first Christmas. As for me, the business outlook could not have been better. Not wise to think that way.

  30

  The last cigarette commercials air on US radio and TV. The Woodstock Music Festival attracts 500,000 people. Marvin Gaye releases What’s Going On? And Rob and Nancy make nice.

  * * *

  Charlie O turned up unexpectedly, and we sat in the conversation area of my corner office. I always enjoyed meeting there because it overlooked the LA County Museum of Art
and the La Brea tar pits, as well as offering a marvelous view of the Hollywood Hills.

  “Last year was a good year,” he said.

  “But?”

  “But, now the agency has stalled a bit. We’ve lost several clients and those on board are not spending at anticipated levels. Billings for the year are down fifteen percent. We need to generate new business and, at the same time, make some deep cuts in our operating costs. This is not easy, but it’s necessary to accomplish both these things.”

  “LA has a strong new business program with several prospects on the line, and our profit contribution is outstanding.”

  “I realize that, but for the good of the agency, we need your help.”

  “You want me to trim personnel?”

  “Yes. It’s the agency’s biggest single expense.”

  “It may help the bottom line short-term but could have a negative long-term effect.”

  “Don’t fight me on this, Rob.”

  “Okay, What else do you want?”

  “Reorganize your team and get more out of your existing clients. Got any other ideas?”

  “First off, I can reduce payroll starting now and try to get down by maybe twenty percent by the end of the third quarter.”

  “You think this will really hurt business?”

  “I’ll keep a close eye on things. It’s going to be tough, but I’ll do whatever it takes to help you get through this crisis.”

  “Good man.”

  “I have another idea: Integrated Marketing.”

  “Which is what exactly?”

  “It’s something people are talking about, but we actually implemented it to some degree with Stouffer’s and now Sunkist. No separate divisions. When you have PR, creative, account service, all working together it speeds up the communication process and this synergy helps achieve better results for the client. Plus working together seamlessly has the added potential of bringing in more profit for the agency.”