The Book of Gossage

Howard Gossage was known as "The Socrates of San Francisco." This book is both by and about him and anyone involved in advertising should be thanking Bruce Bendinger for pulling this book together. Gossage, was a copywriter who emerged in the 50s and 60s. A copywriter with a social conscious who eventually started his own agency and officed in a Firehouse in San Francisco. He introduced the world to Marshall McLuhan, helped start Friends of the Earth, and was instrumental in a number of other socially aware organizations that emerged in the sixties. He was in many ways the anti-ad man, a writer who frequently used humor to great advantage, poking fun at the products he advertised, and probably can be credited with introducing the idea of using humor as a sales tool in advertising.Unfortunately, he died in 1969 from leukemia, but his influence lives on in advertising to this day. After this book was published, Howard Gossage was essentially rediscovered and he was named one of the Top 100 Ad People of the Century (20th Century, that is). If you are involved in creative advertising, read this book. Heck, put it under your pillow and sleep on it. Maybe osmosis actually works.

A collection of pieces ranging from brilliant little essays to recollections about Gossage. While much of the material overlaps and reprises itself, it's entirely worth reading. Will make you wish you could have been a maverick creative in the Iron Age of advertising.... and one of the few advertising books to elevate itself beyond its subject matter. It's a great resource for creating, period.

Bruce Bendinger has done a real service to advertising by putting this book together. Not only does it give Gossage the attention he deserves, it gives us a capsule social history of a very interesting time. And it's full of little nuggets like this: In addition to introducing Marshall McLuhan to the world, Gossage bought him a decent pair of black socks so that Professor M could show up to a speaking engagement without looking like a rube. An interesting time to be in San Francisco and to be in advertising. If you care at all about advertising, you'll find this book fascinating.

Read every other book about advertising creative before you read this book, because "The Book of Gossage" will spoil all those other books for you. They just won't be as inspiring, or even as interesting.Gossage was a fascinating man, with a fascinating life, who did incredible advertising.Must read.

They called him "The Socrates of San Francisco." Howard Luck Gossage had a small advertising agency in a San Francisco firehouse. It was here that Friends of the Earth began - where the world was introduced to Marshall McLuhan. They even did some legendary advertising. Jeff Goodby wrote the intro - Stan Freberg contributed a piece - if you love what advertising could be, you just might like this book.