George Lois
Biography
Biography
As an art director and designer, George Lois was a major figure in advertising who raised ad campaigns to a whole new level. In the 2010s, he was called the original Mad Man, in reference to the hit cable series, an appellation he disdained. A larger than life and sometimes controversial figure, George Lois was born on June 26, 1931 in the Bronx. Lois came from a family of hard-working Greek immigrants, and he began working with his florist father when he was five. Lois showed an aptitude for drawing and art at an early age, and when he grew older, he went to the High School of Music and Art. Lois received a scholarship to Syracuse University, but he went to the Pratt Institute instead. After serving in the Korean War, Lois worked in advertising and promotions for CBS, where he designed booklets, letterheads, and ads for the network. It was in the late fifties that Lois came up with his "Big Idea Thinking" theory, which he applied to coming up with catchy slogans and memorable ad campaigns. Eventually Lois would start his own major ad agencies, including Paper Koening Lois, Lois Holland Callaway, and Lois Pitts Gershon. One of Lois's most memorable achievements was designing ninety-two unforgettable covers for Esquire magazine, including legendary portraits of Muhammad Ali suffering the arrows of St Sebastian and Andy Warhol sinking in a can of Campbell Soup. (Thirty-two of the covers Lois created were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 2008.) Lois also created the "If You've Got It, Flaunt It" ad campaign for Braniff International Airways, which increased the airline's business by 80%. In later decades, Lois reputedly worked on the "I Want My MTV" campaign, as well as campaigns for Stouffer's Lean Cuisine, Jiffy Lube, Xerox, and many others. (Lois had been known to claim credit for campaigns he may or may not have worked on, and his work for some clients had been disputed.) Even though the hit show "Mad Men" (AMC 2007 - ) captured the glory era of advertising that Lois was such a big part of, he was not a fan of the program, feeling it didn't capture the happiness and excitement he remembered from creating great ad campaigns in the 1960s. Lois was honored by the Art Directors Hall of Fame, the Advertising Hall of Fame, the Copywriters Hall of Fame, and the American Institute of Graphic Arts.
Filmography
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Cast (Special)
Art Department (Special)
Life Events
