'DDB NEWS' June 1969 issue---It is the 20th anniversary of establishment title.
The editor had given "Recommending oneself work" by one ad senior's ten key creators.
First of all, it introduces the work affixed to the article on Mr.Bob Levenson the day before yesterday and yesterday and it introduces the word of recommending because of art director's side.
Mr.Bill Taubin
This ad was done in an era when airline ads were very straight and very square.
Every airline had to have an airplane in it. It was almost unheard of for an airline to take a full page.
And one never showed the ocean because people would be afraid of falling into it.
Then along came this little airline which had the courage to make a splash (pardon the pun).
A full page ad of the ocean with no airplane in sight.
In retrospect, one likes things that cause a stir.
It was a very daring ad for El Al.
Almost overnight people realized there was such an airline.
The Atlantic Ocean will become 20% smaller
C/W: Bill Bernbach
MR.Sid Myers
The ad "My Son the Pilot" probably is the one print ad that has given me the most pleasure in doing.
Bob Levenson and I were working on El Al for about six months, trying to convey a personality for the airline, when we came up with this concept.
We knew that this was the direction to go, since all airlines are regulated as to how much they can give you to eat, the cost of the flight, etc.
The only thing El Al had over the other airlines was that it's a Jewish airline.
Ads such as "My Son, the Pilot" were a way to express the warm feeling one got when flying El Al.
Not to mention a great way to talk about competence of the personnel without getting boring.
Anyway, who's going to argue with a Jewish mother when she's bragging about her son?
There was some resistance to running the ad at that time - perhaps it was too way out.
But we felt the time was right to run it.
And it was.
The week the ad ran, Allan Sherman's "My Son, the Folksinger" came out, followed by a whole rash of "My Son, the ... " posters, ads, records, bumper stickers. We got hundreds of letters from all over the world, asking for reprints of the ad.
People still ask me about that ad, six years after it ran.
That's nachus.
My Son, the pilot.
body copy←click
C/W Mr.Bob Levenson
