How about one good one?

I’m no fan of tobacco companies or their advertising tactics, but I liked the following story.

When the head of a mammoth [advertising] agency solicited the Camel Cigarette account, he promised to assign thirty copywriters to it, but the canny head of R. J. Reynolds replied, “How about one good one?” Then he gave his account to a young copywriter called Bill Esty, in whose agency it has remained for twenty-eight years.

One really good person can accomplish more than thirty who aren’t so good, especially in creative work.

Source: Confessions of an Advertising Man

 

One thought on “How about one good one?

  1. “I do not regard advertising as entertainment or art form, but as a medium of information. When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.’ I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product. When Aeschines spoke, they said, ‘How well he speaks.’ But when Demosthenes spoke, they said, ‘Let us march against Philip.’” — David Ogilvy

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