Week Four EOC: Jerry Della Femina

Jerry Della Femina is an advertising executive and restaurateur, who grew up poor in Brooklyn New York to immigrant parents. It has been said he could be any of the Mad Men characters.  In 1961, he got his first copyright job at Daniel & Charles Agency.  He also worked at Ted Bates & Co and other shops where he usually had issues with agency superiors. In 1967, Della Femina and a few other associates decided to open up their own agency which became widely successful. "Actually, I was hard-core unemployable. I could never really work for anybody -- and so in 1967 I started my own agency and became, as my assistant told me, a publicity slut" (New York Magazine). He also wrote a very well known and successful book. "In 1970, Della Femina, the then 34-year-old chairman of his own ad agency, wrote one of the defining books about advertising, the cult bestseller From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor" (The Guardian). Throughout his advertising career he has caused much controversy. In an ad campaign for Perry Ellis cologne he was the first to use the word fuck. Although the agency was doing very well in 1986, Della Femina decided to sell it to Wight Collins Rutherford &Scott. There he worked as chairman-CEO of the company. And then in 1992 although he had agreed not to use his last  name on other agency companies, he opened up a new agency called Jerry Inc. "In 1999, Advertising Age recognized Mr. Della Femina as one of the top 100 advertising people of the 20th century for his determination, sense of humor, dedication and love of advertising" (AdvertisingAge).  Jerry  is known for his sense of humor and dedication in the advertising world today. He is known for his fun and youthful ads that are able to keep up with today's changing society. 

Works Cite

"Della Femina, Jerry (1936- )." Advertising Age AdAge Encyclopedia RSS. N.p., 15 Sept. 2003. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

Dean, Will. "The Last of the Madison Avenue Mavericks of Mad Men." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 16 July 2010. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

"30th Anniversary Issue / Jerry Della Femina: (M)Adman." NYMag.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.