 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2020) |
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Advertising,marketing |
| Founded | 1902 (1902) (Erickson) 1912 (1912) (H. K. McCann) 1930 (1930) (merger) |
| Headquarters | New York, United States |
| Parent | Interpublic Group |
| Website | mccann |
McCann, formerlyMcCann Erickson, is an American globaladvertising agency network, with offices in 120 countries. McCann is part ofMcCann Worldgroup, along with several other agencies, including directdigital marketing agencyMRM//McCann, experiential marketing agency Momentum Worldwide, healthcare marketing group McCann Health, and public-relations and strategic-communications agency Weber Shandwick.[1]
McCann Worldgroup, along with agency networksMullenLowe andFCB, make upThe Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG), one of the four largeholding companies in theadvertising industry.[2]
McCann-Erickson executive Dorothy B. McCann[3] producedDeath Valley Days andDr. Christian.
In 1964, the "Put a Tiger in Your Tank" campaign was developed by McCann Erickson forEsso. Sales soared and the advertising became the talk of the land;Time magazine declared 1964 to be "The Year of the Tiger" along Madison Avenue.
McCann Erickson createdCoca-Cola's "It's The Real Thing" slogan and ad campaign, including the 1971 "Hilltop" ad, which featured the "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" jingle.[4] The song for the commercial was recorded byThe New Seekers, and first aired as a radio ad before being made into a television commercial.[4] The song was rerecorded for commercial release as "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)". The commercial was featured in the final episode of the TV seriesMad Men. McCann Erickson also developed the "Army Strong" campaign for theUnited States Army. The company also developed theMasterCard commercial saying "There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard",[5] as well as theRice-a-Roni jingle (based on a 1923 song, "Barney Google").[6] McCann Erickson also developed theGold Blend couple advertisements forNescafé, which aired from 1987 to 1993. McCann worked onRussia Today's 2008 rebranding and came up with their slogan, "Question More".[7]
Other McCann campaigns have included "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" from the 1928 ads created by Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel;[8] "You can be sure… if it's Westinghouse" from 1954, which featured the actress and consumer advocate Betty Furness in the commercials; "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick," from 1965;[9] and "It's Better in the Bahamas," from 1976.[10]
The agency also introduced the line, "If you've got the time, we've got the beer" forMiller High Life in 1971, and then "Everything you've always wanted in a beer. And less." in the 1973 introduction ofMiller Lite beer. DuringSuper Bowl XIV in 1980, the agency ran a Coca-Cola commercial starring the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle "Mean"Joe Greene that USA Today's Ad Meter poll of readers ranked in 2016 as the No. 1 Super Bowl commercial of all time.
In 1973, McCann New York launched the campaign for L'Oréal's hair coloring products featuring the line, "Because I'm Worth It." It featured three female personalities beginning with Joanne Dusseau, Meredith Baxter Birney and Cybill Shepherd, explaining why they were willing to spend more for their hair.
In 2012, McCann Melbourne launched the "Dumb Ways to Die" animated ad campaign for Metro Trains in Melbourne, Australia, that promoted safety through darkly amusing animation and a catchy song that quickly went viral with 200 million downloads.
To help launch one ofLockheed Martin's STEM initiatives in 2016,Generation Beyond, McCann transformed a yellow school bus into the world's first "Group VR Experience." Students thought they were going on an ordinary field trip. But as the windows transformed to reveal the Martian landscape, they were surprised with a field trip like no other.[11] The campaign, "Field Trip to Mars" won many industry awards in the 2016–2017 season including being the most awarded at theCannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2016.[12]
On the eve of International Women's Day in March 2017,State Street Global Advisors and McCann New York unveiledFearless Girl in the Wall Street area, a statue of a little girl posturing boldly with her hands on her hips, representing female empowerment and gender equality. The installation became a global viral sensation. In February 2018, the City of New York announced that theFearless Girl statue would be permanently installed in downtown Manhattan.[13]
For MGM Resorts in 2018, it launched "Universal Love" in which six iconic wedding songs were re-recorded to be more inclusive ofLGBTQ relationships. When the musicianPrince died on April 21, 2016, Commonwealth//McCann, the agency handling theGeneral Motors globalChevrolet account, ran a full-page tribute ad in six U.S. newspapers, just showing the back of a red1963 Chevrolet Corvette, and not naming either GM or Chevrolet. The copy said, "Baby that was much too fast, 1958–2016," a reference to the lyrics in Prince's 1982 hit song "Little Red Corvette".[14] The agency, which introducedGeorge Clooney into U.S.Nespresso advertising in 2015, created the 2017 special effects commercial in which the actor is shown hitching rides in actual scenes from famous movies such asPsycho andEasy Rider as he travels for the coffee.[15]
McCann Worldgroup (MW) was formed in 1997 as the parent company of McCann and several other agencies, includingMRM//McCann andWeber Shandwick.
McCann's Canadian subsidiary is the product of the 1995 merger of its Canadian office, founded in 1915 as an outpost of H. K. McCann, and MacLaren Advertising.
The MacLaren Advertising Company was an outgrowth of theToronto office of theDetroit-based firm,Campbell-Ewald, which was opened in 1922 to handleGeneral Motors Canada's advertising account. Former reporter John A. MacLaren was hired as the Toronto office's general manager, purchased the Canadian office and renamed it MacLaren Advertising in 1935. By the 1960s, it had developed into an international advertising firm, MacLaren International.[16][17]
The firm was best known for launching theGeneral Motors Hockey Broadcast in 1931 when it acquired exclusive radio broadcasting rights for games held inMaple Leaf Gardens. The programme initially aired on theCN Radio network. The series transferred to CNR's successor, theCanadian Radio Broadcasting Commission and became theImperial Esso Hockey Broadcast in 1934, when Imperial Oil became its sponsor, and thenHockey Night in Canada in 1936 when it began airing on the CRBC's successor, theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation. MacLaren Advertising would produce the programme in collaboration with theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation until 1988.[16]
The agency became a leader in Canadian advertising, and was the first advertising agency in Canada to have a radio department, research department,direct mail and sales promotion department, as well as a poster and store display division. As it grew, it established branches inMontreal,Quebec City, andLondon, Ontario.[18]
MacLaren Advertising clients includedGeneral Motors Canada,General Electric Canada,Imperial Oil,Canada Packers, and the Government of Canada. It established the first radio department in any Canadian advertising agency. By 1948, MacLaren was the first to advertise its corporate clients on television featuring celebrities and well-known jingles.[19]
It acquired the Norris-Patterson agency in 1942, and by 1954 was one of the top 50 companies in North America. MacLaren expanded further, establishing branch offices inVancouver,Winnipeg andOttawa.[18]
In the 1950s and 1960s, MacLaren was the largest ad agency in Canada and its staff produced 85% of TV network programming afterCBC Television started broadcasting in 1952.[18] The firm was responsible forMolson's "I Am Canadian" campaign and the "Built For Drivers" platform forPontiac, and a series of ads forSunlight detergent in the 1980s.[16]
In the 1970s, it acquired agencies inLondon andParis and opened an office inNassau.[18]
In 1988, the firm was acquired byLintas Worldwide which renamed the firm MacLaren:Lintas. In 1995, the firm, now a Canadian subsidiary, was sold to the McCann and renamed MacLaren McCann. In 2016, it was renamed McCann Canada, with offices inToronto,Calgary,Vancouver, andMontreal.[16]
In theAMC seriesMad Men, an executive at McCann Erickson is introduced in Season 1 as showing great interest in poachingDon Draper away from Sterling Cooper. This attempt is ultimately unsuccessful but McCann would feature as a background adversary to Sterling Cooper for most of the series. Sterling Cooper and its parent company, Putnam, Powell and Lowe, are acquired by McCann, leading Don Draper to help start a new agency rather than be part of what he calls a "sausage factory."[35] Responding to the show, the ad company bought space inAdweek,Brandweek, andMediaweek headlined "Welcome, Sterling Cooper" and signed "Your friends at McCann Erickson".[36]Later in the series,[37]Roger Sterling negotiates the sale of 51% of Sterling Cooper & Partners to McCann as an independent subsidiary, but McCann subsequently swallows up the company and consolidates it into its much larger business.[38] The series ended with the landmarkHilltop ad for Coca-Cola made by McCann Erickson.[39][40]
Former employees include Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), and PresidentRonald Reagan's brother,Neil Reagan, who was senior vice president of McCann Erickson. Homoerotic artistTom of Finland started his work in the 1960s as anart director at the Finnish branch of the agency.[41][42]
Others have includedJames Dickey, the novelist (Deliverance) and poet (U.S. Poet Laureate, 1966–1968), who joined as a copywriter on Coca-Cola in 1956, working first in New York and then in Atlanta for a few years;[43]Edward Lewis Wallant, who worked (1957–1961) as an art director in New York while he was writing the novelThe Pawnbroker (1961), which became in 1964 the first U.S. film to treat the horrors ofThe Holocaust from the viewpoint of a survivor;[44]Bert Sugar, the sports historian and boxing writer, who worked in New York in the 1960s;[45]Bryce Courtenay, one of Australia's best-selling authors (The Power of One), who worked in Sydney for more than a decade starting in 1959, including as creative director;[46] Ismail Merchant, who joined New York as an account executive in 1958 while developing his first film,The Creation of Woman (1960), and then went on to form Merchant Ivory Productions, famous for movies such asA Room with a View (1985) andHowards End (1992);[47][48]Grant Tinker, who was director of program development in McCann New York (1954–1957), and then co-foundedMTM Enterprises (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and later became CEO of NBC (1981–1986);[49] Stan Weston, who created the G.I. Joe action figure and helped develop theThunderCats cartoon series; comic actorDave Thomas, who was a Toronto and New York copywriter at the agency on Coca-Cola (1974–1976), known for portraying Doug McKenzie inSCTV's early 1980s Bob and Doug McKenzie skits with Rick Moranis;[50] andShonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy), whose first job out of college in 1991 was as a writer in San Francisco.[51]
The writer and filmmakerJomí García Ascot, who was VP-creative director of McCann Mexico up through 1978, was part of the influential creative group in Mexico that includedGabriel García Márquez, who dedicated the first Spanish-language edition ofOne Hundred Years of Solitude to García Ascot and his wife. As recalled by the Mexican novelist and poetFernando del Paso, the Stanton Publicidad agency that would become part of McCann Mexico in 1968 brought together writers and filmmakers that included himself, García Márquez,María Luisa Mendoza,Álvaro Mutis,Jorge Fons, andArturo Ripstein.[52]
