Top 10 Advertising Icons

October 17, 2003 D. H. McKee

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Some of the best-loved ad images of the 20th century have names like Tony, Betty and Ronald. Others, like the Marlboro Man, may not be as beloved, but grew to have tremendous worldwide impact as an instant identifier of Philip Morris Co.’s Marlboro cigarettes.

From frozen vegetables to packaged cake mix, from fast food to automobile tires, these carefully drawn characters are the personifications of businesses that began small but grew to become dominant brands in their fields — thanks in large part to their famous icons.

(Interesting to note that the Michelin Man originally held a glass of beer: “…lifting a beer glass and shouting, ‘Nunc est bibendum! (Now is the time to drink!)’ seemed to embody Michelin’s slogan at the time, ‘Michelin tires swallow up all obstacles.'”)

http://www.adage.com/century/ad_icons.htm

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As a guy who occasionally curates art shows and wrangles artists together, I often have to edit and post artist bios, profile pictures, and artwork images. This can be a problem, since many artists and writers aren’t used to selling themselves. Artists rarely know how to present their art for display in a brochure, and writers aren’t used to writing about themselves.

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Like blogs of old, this one is a personal document of the comings and goings of me. Articles I’ve written, links I’ve posted, videos I liked, etc. Here, a first-person perspective is the way to go, at least for now. So, this is my site. I’m D. H. McKee, a sometimes artist, sometimes writer. Mostly just a guy on the internet.