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Leo Burnett: Map


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Early life and career

Born in St. Johns, Michiganmarker, he studied journalism at the University of Michiganmarker. His first job was as a reporter at the Peoria Journal in Peoria, Illinoismarker. In 1917, he moved to Detroitmarker, where he went to work for the Cadillac Motor Company as a copywriter. After a marriage to Naomi Geddes in 1918 he moved to Indianapolis, Indianamarker, where he worked for an advertising agency from 1923–1930.

Burnett was the father of Phoebe Snetsinger, a birdwatcher famous for having seen more species of birds than anyone else.

Leo Burnett Worldwide

In 1935, he created his own agency in Chicagomarker, which is now known as Leo Burnett Worldwide. He was inducted into the Copywriters Hall of Fame in 1961, and retired in 1967.

Important corporate symbols created by Burnett

Burnett followed Walter Lippmann's philosophy of creating an image around the product. Until his time, advertising centered on long text descriptions of the product, with detailed arguments as to why it was better than competing products. Burnett concentrated on style, creating icons as a symbol of the product. He stressed that the creator of an ad needed to somehow capture and reflect what he called the "inherent drama" of the product.


Another important internal symbol Leo Burnett created was an icon of a 'hand reaching for the stars', which he explained with the saying, "When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either".

A third symbol was the "black pencil", an Alpha 245 of the type commonly used by Burnett in his lifetime. To Burnett it symbolised a commitment to the warmth and humanity of ideas, and to the work of the people who create them.

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