Leo Burnett

Leo Burnett was an American advertising executive who founded the advertising agency Leo Burnett Company, Inc. in 1935. The agency is known for its creative advertising campaigns and iconic brand mascots, such as the Jolly Green Giant and Tony the Tiger.

Leo Burnett was born in St. Johns, Michigan in 1891. He started his advertising career in 1917 as a copywriter for Homer McKee Advertising in Detroit. He later worked for a number of other advertising agencies before founding his own agency in Chicago in 1935.

Under Burnett's leadership, his agency developed a reputation for creating memorable and effective advertising campaigns for a wide range of clients. Some of the agency's most famous campaigns include "You Deserve a Break Today" for McDonald's, "Reach Out and Touch Someone" for AT&T, and "Maytag Repairman" for Maytag appliances.

Burnett was also known for his philosophy of "The Human Kind," which emphasized the importance of understanding and empathizing with the target audience in order to create effective advertising. This approach helped his agency to create some of the most iconic and beloved advertising campaigns of the 20th century.

Leo Burnett passed away in 1971, but his legacy lives on through his agency, which is still in operation today as part of the Publicis Groupe.