As we enter the new year, it’s tempting to look ahead, envisioning what might unfold and identifying key areas that will help to determine the course of 2008. To be sure, that brand of forward thinking was sprinkled throughout our first issue of 2008 as reflected in our Agency Creative and Edit & Post surveys, and in our report on “Labor Pains Or Gains?” relative to what might be in store. And this week we report on how the intellectual property (IP) debate is starting to heat up. Clearly IP will be a prime topic of ’08 and beyond.
But our present and future have also been shaped by the past and it’s in this spirit that we pause to pay respects to the contributions of a couple notable ad agency artisans who passed away during the latter stages of ’07 without being duly noticed.
These pioneers from what many regard as being the “Golden Era” were Joseph D. Lamneck and James Carroll. The latter was head of production at Benton & Bowles, New York, for 10 years before becoming an executive at Kenyon & Eckhardt. Under his aegis and guidance at Benton & Bowles, classic campaigns were produced for Crest toothpaste and Charmin bathroom tissue. Carroll also served as the liaison for the advertising industry labor committee.
A native New Yorker, Carroll served in the U.S. Army for the 101st Regiment, 26th Yankee Division, during World War II, after which he studied at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y. where he earned a Bachelor’s degree and later returned to serve as a trustee on the board of his alma mater.
Meanwhile Lamneck was a trusted friend of New York Giants football team owner and NFL pioneer, the late Wellington Mara. Lamneck rose from live television art director to award-winning commercial producer for Warner Bros., Leo Burnett and Kenyon & Eckhardt. His breakthrough campaign featuring Lee Iacocca telling America, “If you can find a better car, buy it” in the early 1980s proved to be an influential factor in Chrysler’s recovery in the marketplace. The campaign also helped to shape the CEO spokesman genre and turned Iacocca himself into a trusted brand name.
Lamneck also wrote and directed the film Champions of Life featuring many NFL athletes, which led Mara to create Life Athletes Inc., an organization that continues to promote virtuous life values with the help of more than 300 professional and Olympic athletes.
Both Lamneck and Carroll had the ability to tap into the audience zeitgeist, creating enduring pieces of communication in the process. And while we sadly report on their passing–just as we did in our prior column this month on the late great ad industry legend Phil Dusenberry of BBDO–it’s important we remember their contributions and learn from their philosophies, successes and setbacks.
Indeed the lessons learned by Dusenberry over the years yielded relevant advice from him on today’s ever evolving new media landscape. He recently noted that the more things change, some things remain constant. So much, he stressed, still comes down to creativity based on strategy, connecting with an audience and being true to the brand.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More