The list below is a sampling of Hall of Fame members who championed this issue.
- Lewis Bunnell Jones - made the name Kodak known throughout the world; created the "You Press the Button - We do the Rest" campaign, which was cited in 100 Greatest Advertisements, as "one of the shortest and most effective pieces of human-interest copy ever written."
- J. Walter Thompson - pioneered the testimonial ad, first used to sell Pond's beauty care products.
- Shirley Polykoff - Taking over the Clairol account for Bristol-Myers, Polykoff's "Does she... or doesn't she?" campaign earned millions as the number of women coloring their hair increased from just 7 percent to nearly half of the female population in the U.S. The sale of dyes, tints and rinses increased from $25 million to more than $200 million, with Clairol accounting for more than half of the total earnings.
- William Bernbach - By incorporating creativity, simplicity and humor into his advertisements, Bernbach was able to create some of the most successful campaigns in the history of advertising for clients such as Ohrbach's, Levy's bakery of Brooklyn, Volkswagen and Hertz.
- Jean Wade Rindlaub - became one of the most successful and renowned copywriters of her day by championing the creation of advertising that addressed women with humanity and a genuine understanding of their needs.
- Leo Burnett - developed a variety of advertising concepts, including the influential idea of "searching for the inherent drama" of the product. "You have to be noticed," he once said, "but the art is getting noticed naturally, without screaming and without tricks."
- Erma Perham Proetz - won the Harvard Advertising Award for distinguished individual advertisements, based on "the most effective use of illustration in advertising." She also received the Edward W. Bok prize by the Harvard Award Jury for the best-planned and executed national advertising campaign for a single product.
- John E. Powers - pioneered the use of many new marketing devices: advertising in the form of a story or play, the use of odd type displays, the introduction of free trial uses of a product and the promotion of an easy payment plan.
- Albert D. Lasker - promoted "reason why" advertising, forever changing the industry. Along with his partner, Claude C. Hopkins, he believed that the best ads gave consumers a clear reason why they would benefit from the purchase of a product and promoted an aspect of that product that was pleasing.
- Helen Lansdowne Resor - produced such famed ads as the Woodbury Soap campaign, "A Skin You Love to Touch," which is recorded as the first use of sex appeal in an advertisement. She revolutionized endorsement advertising by persuading society leaders and even royalty to appear in her Pond's Cold Cream ads, changing the tone of the medium.
- Bruce Barton - was an outstanding copywriter and many of his advertisements became classics. He coined the unofficial motto of the Salvation Army, "A man may be down but he's never out." He also wrote a famous slogan for Andrew Carnegie of U.S. Steel, "He came to a land of wooden towns and left a nation of steel."
- Alex F. Osborn - spent much of his life teaching others how to think creatively. The last decade of his life was devoted to promoting the Creative Education Foundation. He is generally credited with creating such phrases as "brainstorming" and "creative imagination."
- Ralph Starr Butler - was the first to employ the continuity comic strip as an advertising medium in 1943.
- Bernard C. Duffy - known for the $10 million "Lucky Strike" account he landed as a young man in the media department at BBDO.
- Artemas Ward - used mass advertising to direct the widespread and highly successful introduction of Sapolio soap, a household cleaner. In his campaign, Ward introduced the use of transit ads carrying jingles for Sapolio in almost all public transit vehicles in the country.
- David Ogilvy - was one of the greatest copywriters in advertising. He was recognized by Time as "the most sought-after wizard in the advertising business." His passion for advertising was grounded in his love of the art, rather than the business, "I learned to sell, which means listening more than you talk, knowing your product inside out, having a sense of humor and telling the truth."
- John Caples - will always be remembered for a classic advertisement he developed for the U.S. School of Music in the 1920s. It began, "They laughed when I sat down at the piano. But when I started to play..." It brought in a record number of coupons, and was so successful that it ran in several publications for many years. Ogilvy once called Caples "one of the most effective copywriters there has ever been." Mail order advertisements were his favorites because he believed they were the most challenging, "You're always trying to beat ads that do work, to beat the proven winner."
- Charles H. Brower - From Brower's typewriter came a series of speeches that brought thousands out of their chairs and that were reprinted by millions. Typical was "The Return of the Square," a biting, witty and compelling call for Americans to remember their heritage and the values that served as the foundation of our nation. He also wrote the book Me and Other Advertising Geniuses.
- Bernice Fitz-Gibbon - One of her greatest contributions to retail advertising was her creative use of "buildups." Usually reserved for information about a store, she used these small spaces at the top of a newspaper ad for tiny editorials aimed at improving the public image of Wanamaker's. Surveys showed that these editorials were one of the most widely read pieces in the newspaper.
- Owen Burtch Winters - Advertising Age called him, "one of the greatest copywriters in the history of advertising." He made "Contented Cows" the hallmark of Carnation Milk, invented the term "athlete's foot," and coined the name "Humidor Pack" for the cellophane wrap on Camel cigarettes.
- William M. Backer - developed and created some of the most memorable campaigns of all time, including, "It's the Real Thing," and "I'd like to Buy the World a Coke for the Coca-Cola Company; Miller Time and the multi-award-winning "Miller Lite Beer All Stars" campaign for the Miller Brewing Company.
- Lester Wunderman - has been called the "father of direct marketing." He has introduced many radical concepts that have revolutionized the direct-mail marketing business, including the invention of magazine subscription cards and the Columbia House Record Club. Columbia House's post-paid insert card not only increased Columbia House responses by 500 percent, but have become and advertising institution in the advertising industry.
- John E. Kennedy - believed in the essential intelligence of the consumer and distilled his copywriting method into The Book of Advertising Texts, which has influenced such famous copywriters as Rosser Reeves and Claude C. Hopkins. Fox later wrote that Kennedy's style was "the foundation stone of successful advertising."
- Janet L. Wolff - is a pioneer for women in the advertising industry, and her leadership as one of the first female advertising executives is legendary. Under her guidance, many classic campaigns were born, including Datsun's "We are Driven," Irish Spring Deodorant Soap's "The many soap that women like, too," Nabisco's "American Cookie Jar," Noxema Shave Cream's "Take it off, take it all off," and Vaseline Intensive Care's "dry leaf demonstration."
- Mary Wells Lawrence - Lawrence's extraordinary talent attracted a roster of blue chip clients such as Procter & Gamble, Ford Motor Co. and Ralston Purina, which had been the exclusive province of the male-dominated advertising industry. Under her direction, Wells Rich Greene created some of the most famous advertising slogans ever crafted: "I Love New York," "Quality is Job 1," "Try It, You'll Like It," and "I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing." She broke every rule in the book for packaged goods, service businesses and automobile advertising. She introduced film and theatrical techniques, turning the television commercial into a mini-movie: 60 seconds of visual entertainment with the product as the star.
- Hal Riney - created the campaign for President Reagan's 1984 reelection," It's Morning Again in America." Riney also developed strategies and campaigns for a variety of new products, occasionally naming them as well. Among these was Gallo's Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler. In creating the characters "Frank and Ed," Riney not only named the product, but also wrote its 143 commercials. Under Riney's leadership, the agency was instrumental in developing the strategy and advertising that made the Saturn launch the most successful in automotive history.
- Phil Dusenberry - spoke to emotion as well as intellect, through theme lines like GE's "We bring good things to life" and campaigns for Pepsi, Pizza Hut and many more. He elevated advertising into a form of entertainment with a commitment to emotion, humanity and unwavering energy and verve. Dusenberry's commitment to creativity and "The work, the work, the work," became BBDO's mantra. This creativity and brilliance extend beyond the advertising industry in many ways. Perhaps most notably, Dusenberry was the co-author of the screenplay for the Robert Redford movie The Natural.
