(August 19, 1923-June 15, 2008)
Born in Manhattan, New York
Sound archivist, advertising executive and media consultant
Commercial clients included Coca-Cola, Chrysler, Kodak and American Express
Created political ads for Hubert Humphrey, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton
Created the 'Daisy' ad for LBJ in which the image of a young girl counting the petals she plucks off a flower morphs into a nuclear countdown and mushroom cloud
Hosted the radio show 'Around New York' for WNYC
Wrote 'The Responsive Chord' (1973) and 'Media: The Second God' (1982)

He was an agoraphobe who rarely left his house and almost never ventured outside the local neighborhood.
He claimed to be solely responsible for the 'Daisy' ad, which was disputed by others at the Doyle Dane Bernbach ad agency.
The 'Daisy' ad is widely considered the start of negative TV ads in presidential campaigns.

He went blind for six months when he was 16.
He made field recordings of the sounds of the New York streets that were released by Smithsonian Folkways on albums like 'Sounds of My City' and 'Music in the Streets.'
He was credited as the first advertiser to use authentic children's voices in commercials.
He created some of the first anti-smoking public service announcements.
Thanks to modern technology, he taught media studies at Columbia, NYU and Harvard without leaving his home.
He insisted about the Daisy ad, 'There was nothing negative about it. Frankly, I think it was the most positive commercial ever made.'

Credit: C. Fishel

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For 2009, as of last week, Out of 18 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 26 Votes: 57.69% Annoying

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