Review: Changing the World is the Only Fit Work for a Grown Man

All of which makes the achievements of Howard Luck Gossage, outlined in Steve Harrison’s very readable book all the more impressive.

Gossage was, in many respects, just like us. He battled with career choices, with the relationship between money and integrity, with what clients want versus what’s right for them. He worried about becoming an agency that’s too big, and he carried a lifelong grudge against good, as opposed to truly great creative work.

But what set Gossage apart from garden variety ad men was his extraordinary catalogue of industry firsts -and although Harrison outlines this prescience with well researched detail, his critical faculties do occasionally suffer at the hands of his obvious adoration for his subject.

Gossage was unquestionably a pioneer - the first to court headline coverage as a deliberate ingredient of his campaigns, the first to offer clients a fee-based, rather than commission-based remuneration structure, the first to structure an offer without Account Service and almost 30 years ahead of its time, in 1967 he created the first standalone agency to specialise in buying media. At Inferno, one of our abiding beliefs is that the world needs more interesting and Howard Gossage spent a lifetime pursuing the same; describing himself as a “Tediophobe”.

However Harrison’s assertions that Gossage was also the “inventor” of interactive and the catalyst behind what we now call the Green Movement stray more than a little into over claim. That Gossage was a strident believer in advertising as a dialogue rather than a blunt instrument is beyond question; his use of coupons in print advertising, his fundamental belief in the principles of Cybernetics and the importance of reciprocity is innovative and admirable, but referring to coupons as “The internet of the 1960’s” probably does the internet a disservice. Similarly, suggesting Gossage was the forefather of environmental activism fails to recall the historical struggles of hundreds of native populations around the world – many of which no longer exist – against empire builders and other marauding invaders.

But the author’s occasional over exuberance should not overshadow Howard Gossage’s extraordinary accomplishments: he was instrumental in saving the Grand Canyon from being dammed and his efforts to spirit Anguilla towards independence were brilliant and brazen, if a little naïve.

That Gossage was one of the greatest copywriters of all time is beyond question and Harrison does a workmanlike job of detailing why. But even as someone who’s spent nearly two decades making advertising, I found myself constantly wanting to learn more about Gossage himself, beyond the advertising and if there is a fundamental missed opportunity in this book, this is it.

From his fascinating childhood as the son of a vaudevillian mother, to his distinguished experience as an airman in WW2, his prolific letter writing, parallel relationship with David Ogilvy and his commitment to discovering and nurturing talent of all kinds, throughout this book I kept wishing I was reading a full biography, rather just a professional one.

I know, I know; that’s easy for me to write. Harrison has obviously invested a significant amount of time and effort on his work. But reading this story I couldn’t help thinking “There’s more to it than the ads” and funnily enough it’s a thought Howard himself would probably endorse.

Andy Cairns is managing director of www.Infernogroup.com