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A charming article from today's New York Times about a home-grown ad for Apple's iPod that was originally posted on youtube by an 18-year-old who is a freshman at the University of Leeds in Britain. TBWA/Chiat/Day liked it so much, they flew the teenager to LA and had him help them produce the spot for national air.
Former C/D NY studio czar Scot Blakely, looking as lovely and ghoulish as ever! (As I recall, this is what Scot looked like after pulling an all-nighter.)
Says Scot ...
Halloween was always a special time for me at Chiat/Day as everyone can attest to. You might say I'm rather obsessed about it! From body parts strewn on the living room floor to a blown up sex doll dressed like Marion Craine from Psycho in my bathtub with the theme from Psycho looping! Blake as Hugh Hefner was classic! Crazy man!!.
The inventor of this combination workstation and gym treadmills says " "I think it's the next iPod. Everybody is going to want one."
Carol Madonna reminded me that today would have been Jay's birthday. (Remember the code to the security system at 79 Fifth?) I can think of no better "present" to give Jay than this memory of him which arrived the other day from Cheryllynn Carter.
When I started at Chiat/Day I started on the switch board. It was when they decided that the office should be "virtual". My first week of work they were still wiring the hardware and writing the software that was going to make us a cutting age company. In the LA office we were in the Binoculars and I loved the energy and vibe there. Then Jay was all over the place. At one point Jay was in NY and he needed to talk to Bob Kuperman and Bob Grossman and I was the one that need to facilitate that call. The systems had a ton of bugs in it and call were getting dropped left and right. Jay told me if I dropped the call I was fired. Well the call dropped, and Jay was pissed. I went into the bathroom and cried then came back, set up the call and it worked. The next day I came to work. I waited all day for HR to tell me I was fired....it never happened. I worked there for over 13 years. Jay and I became friends and I so enjoyed working there. I never however brought up the fact that he fired me, thank God he forgot.
I went from the switch board to the production department. I became a producer and I specialized in voice over. Now I run my own voice over casting company. I miss Jay days.
Cheryllynn Carter
Precision Talent
Thank you to Lily Katz for alerting me to this Adweek article about Lee Clow, who seems to be starting a Media Arts Festival in Cabo San Lucas. Why? Said Lee, "I'm tired to flying to France."
P.S. Lily is now Senior Vice President, Media Director, at EvansHardy+Young.
I received this email on Oct. 22nd from Shelley Menning Chiat, Jay's second wife.
many may remember karen vogel who worked with jay as early as the olympic blvd. days with guy day, monty mckinney, sandy lovejoy, norman durkee, etc. it's there in 1976 that she introduced me to jay. last year she and her husband moved from their beautiful but empty suburban nest near thousand oaks to her dream spanish rancho on 10 acres in agua dulce. since then she has lost both parents, and yesterday the malibu fires lept the hill, burning her house, barns, etc. to the ground. she lost everything but her family members. i know that as is the case for many c/d alum, the agency and people she knew there remain a treasured memory for her. please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, and drop her an encouraging word if you can at ...
thank you.
xoxo, s.
Scott Salmon worked for me in Print Production at Chiat/Day NY when we were at 666 Fifth Ave. He also hung around 79 Fifth a lot, as he was then married to Judy Zell and sold graphic services to Peter Franke, Bruce Ascher, and John Doepp.
I am fortunate to have a log cabin in the Catskill Mountains near Phoenicia. A couple of weeks ago, when the weather was still warm, Scott brought his son, Shane, up for a visit and we went swimming in the nearby Esopus Creek.
Shane is 5 (or, as he insists, "5-3/4".) Scott is the manager of the Manhattan Plaza Health Club and is married to the lovely Suzan Salmon. And as you can see from Scott's youthful face, he has a portrait in his attic which is decaying at an alarming rate.
If you click on the following link, you can see some more photos of Shane, as well as one of your JAY\DAY host looking as if, on off nights, I haunt Loch Ness.
Earlier this year, I found myself working as Managing Director at a company, the name of which shall not be uttered here. (That's another story.)
Anyways, while looking for an executive broadcast producer, I got a call from a recruiter in LA. Behold and lo, it turned out to be someone I knew from Chiat/Day .... like 20 YEARS AGO .... at the Biltmore Hotel!
It was Frankie! (a.k.a. Francesa Cohn.) She is still as funny and wonderful as I remember her, so I asked her to send me a photo and some text so I could make her famous on JAY\DAY.
A follow-spot from the balcony, please, for Frankie!
After a couple of decades of informally matching up friends with jobs, I decided to take the plunge into recruiting. One of the best parts is finding Chiat friends at the least expected moment. Like bumping into Stevan Alburty just when he started his new gig at [redacted by editor.]
I've joined up with Julie Sandler at Basic Recruiting. Although, some of you probably remember Juli as a copywriter she works with account and planning. I'm concentrating on my passions - new media, production and creative. Glen and I still use the Tiffany champagne glasses Jay gave us for our wedding on every anniversary. We have two teenagers - Austin at College of Wooster and Mackenzie at Malibu High.
Incoming! My inbox contained the following discovery of C/D Chicago alum, Jennifer Huey, who is now known as Jennifer Rosenberg. Now here's the weird part. I have a memory like a colander. I cannot remember what 99.5% of you ever looked like, or what you did. But I remember the name "Jennifer Huey." Who wouldn't, I guess. Anyway, welcome back from the Land of the Lost, Jennifer.
Hi Steve,
Alison Forsyth let me know about www.jayday.org and it’s fantastic. I spent a good part of last evening reading up on old colleagues, friends and acquaintances. Oh, what memories! I was an employee in the Chicago office from 1991-1995. I came there right out of college as a temporary receptionist with a marketing degree and found the opportunity of a lifetime. I left Chiat/Day as an Account Supervisor, and I will be forever grateful for the amazing opportunities given to me (thank you Pete Rentschler!). Please add me to the alumni list (my maiden name is Huey).
After 10+ years in advertising (I left Chiat/Day in 1995 and went to work at DDB Chicago on McDonald’s business), I am now a full-time mom in Elmhurst, Illinois, who dabbles in free-lance marketing projects whenever I can.
Thanks for creating such a great resource.
Regards,
Jennifer (Huey) Rosenberg
Why is Burger King advertising so dreadful. I'm sorry, but the King was friggin' scary.
I had to go back 30 years into the vaults, but I have found proof that Burger King once produced a decent TV commercial. (And no, it's not "Have it your way.")
This just in from a Chiat/Day alum from the 90s, Jay McPhillips. He was (and probably still is) an art director and self-described "beginning painter/writer/doodler." Well, waddya know, he’s having a gallery show! Put it in your calendar …
I will be having an art show and book signing on October 13th from 6-9pm in Lambertville, NJ at Myles Cavanaugh Fine Art, 12 Church Street, Lambertville, NJ. (map)
Lambertville is a beautiful little town packed with galleries, restaurants and antiques. It's also a short walk over the bridge to New Hope, Pennsylvania. It makes for a great weekend trip from the city.
Here's a little bio of myself and the show. I'd be thrilled if you could post any of it on jayday.org.
Thanks very much.
Jay McPhillips
Newsstand Portraits and book signing by Jay McPhillips:
Jay McPhillips has been a painter, writer and graphic designer for the past 20 years. Most recently, Mr. McPhillips has worked as the graphic designer for Princeton's McCarter Theatre. Previously he worked for Comedy Central Television, TBWA Chiat Day Advertising and a variety of other ad agencies.
Jay McPhillips' Newsstand Portraits and his book Staff Pick are a blend of graphic design, writing and painting. The portraits are inspired by the New York City newsstand. Specifically the portraits include New York writers, artists, personalities, models and brands. Often the images are painted from magazine layouts and include indications of text, headlines, page edges and logos. In some paintings, Mr. McPhillips has substituted current personalities into classic portrait settings. One example is a portrait of author and history scholar Sarah Vowell (National Public Radio) sitting in a John Singer Sargent like environment. Having worked in New York and lived in beautiful historic Lambertville, Jay can't help but see and portray a connection between pop culture and history. McPhillips, book Staff Pick is a hand-made compilation of humorous thoughts and notions all within a screen printed glow in the dark cover. When viewed in the dark a sentence is revealed to exclaim in a pro wrestling-like fashion "In your face, James Joyce! This book glows in the dark!" Again, as with the Newsstand Portraits, McPhillips combines current culture/language with the classics. The results are often humorous and surprisingly elegant.
I've always wanted a part of this site to be dedicated to job-hunting. After all, having worked at C/D is sort of the ultimate credential. I'm so glad Kieran Darby thought to contact me to alert you all that he is a freelance account planner and is looking for assignments.
Says Kieran ...
Kieran Darby- freelance Account Planner
For those of you who have not as yet met me or who maybe have met me but for whatever reason cannot quite remember me, my name is Kieran Darby. I am a Freelance Account Planning consultant who is willing to work with Advertising Agencies or other Marketing Services providers or to work directly with end Clients.
I am based in San Francisco at 415-826-2629 and kdarby@mac.com and am very willing to travel.
I am a planner that is ruthlessly based in achieving business effectiveness and growing a Client’s Business (there’s a business reason for that degree in Economics). I have over 20 years Account Planning experience, which began in the UK at agencies such as Gold Greenlees Trott. I was brought to the USA in 1987 by Rob White at Chiat/Day. I also worked at Goodby Silverstein & Partners and the USA launch of Leagas Delaney. I launched my own consultancy in 1997.
Please call if you need any help on Brand or Business Development matters (and that ‘help’ can go far beyond needing adverts or other forms of immediate communication). I look forward to hearing from and talking to you. Regards.
Kieran
