Emerson Foote

Emerson Foote (Ad exec.; Promoted Lucky Strikes in 1930s)

= Biography =

Emerson Foote (died in 1992) was an advertising Executive who was a major promoter of Lucky Strikes in the 1930s. He quit commercial advertising in 1964, stopped smoking and became a member of a task force that made recommendations to the United States Surgeon General during the 1960s (E. Whelan 1984).

"Mr. Foote resigned as chairman of McCann-Erickson in 1964, saying he was opposed to handling cigarette accounts. He was then a member of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke and endorsed the Surgeon General's report that linked cigarette smoking and lung cancer...

"He made his mark after moving to New York in 1938 to work for Lord & Thomas, a firm run by the legendary Albert D. Lasker, known as "the father of modern advertising." Mr. Foote started out as an assistant account executive for Lucky Strike cigarettes and, promoted to vice president, soon was put in charge of the entire account...

"Mr. Foote was president of the agency in 1948 when he stirred the industry by resigning the American Tobacco account, then worth $12 million in bookings, or about a fifth of the agency's total. He retired as president two years later, citing health reasons.

"But he joined McCann-Erickson as executive vice president in 1952. He served as president from 1960 to 1963 and as chairman from 1962 to 1964."


 * Founding Chair, Campaign to Check the Population Explosion (an ad hoc committee of the Hugh Moore Fund)