After seeing a report from the U.S. Surgeon General that clearly pointed out, "tobacco products cause lung cancer more easily than other factors" in the January of 1964, the founder of America's DDB Group William Bernbach decided not to work with tobacco clients after talking with Ned Doyle and Mac Dane, the other two founders of DDB. Ever since then, refusing to work with the tobacco manufacturers has become the pride and joy of every DDB employees.
For most advertising agencies, the tobacco companies were highly sought-after clients because they usually had very high advertising budgets. For DDB, the priority was quite different. One of the reasons why William Bernbach despised tobacco products is that his father died from throat cancer. Mr. Bernbach had quit smoking for a very long time himself.
William Bernbach said during a press conference in Los Angeles before the initial public offering of DDB's common stocks that, he was against tobacco product advertising. Tobacco products are harmful for the human bodies, so selling tobacco products is akin to selling diseases. This news appears in the L.A. Times the day after. The newspaper described Mr. Bernbach as, "not someone who was locked up in the ivory tower, doing things behind closed doors, and totally lose touch with the outside world."
Because of this event, DDB's policy of turning down tobacco clients finally was made known to the public. William Bernback has earned high praises from around the world for his ethics and principle, and DDB has been recognized as one of the few advertising agencies that show social responsibilities. Under his leadership, DDB has become one of the top ten advertising agencies in the world.
Unfortunately, as soon as William Bernbach passed away in 1982, DDB finally caved in to lucrative offers and started making advertisement for Parliament tobacco products. Furthermore, the entire advertising industry did not follow William Bernbach's lead to turn down tobacco companies' advertising offers. Nevertheless, his high moral character that he established for himself did not disappear even after his departure.
