Creator of Pepsi Generation Passes Away

According to a press release from PepsiCo on Monday, former advertising executive at the company Alan Maxwell Pottasch died in his sleep on July 27.

Pottasch, 79, was working on a Pepsi TV commercial in Los Angeles at the time. Although he had officially retired from Pepsi in 1991, he remained a creative consultant to PepsiCo until his death.

Pottasch was known as the father of the "Pepsi Generation," a large marketing strategy that lead to huge success for Pepsi. He joined the company in 1957, and focused his marketing on the upcoming youth culture, called the baby boomers. "Pepsi named and claimed 25 million young people for its own with a big, sweeping invitation to live life to its fullest," he had said.

The Pepsi Generation campaign was hugely important in the advertising world. It focused on the lives and culture of the product's consumers, rather than promote the virtues of the product itself. This strategy is still used by the vast majority of advertisements today. The Pepsi Generation campaign was launched in 1963, spearheaded by Pottasch, and slowly expanded throughout the world.

The commercials created by Pottasch received the Grand Prix Award at Cannes, one of the highest honors and advertisement can received. He won over 60 other major awards. He was also responsible for many extremely popular and recognizable commercials, such as the musical ads with Michael Jackson in the 1980s.

One of Pepsi's longtime agency partners was BBDO. "The relationship between Alan Pottasch and BBDO was very special," said Phil Dusenberry, formerly chief creative officer of BBDO/North America. "It was an unprecedented alliance that produced over 35 years of award-winning advertising. Alan was the keeper of the creative flame, Pepsi's creative conscience, always putting the long-term health of the brands over quick-fix short-term solutions. Every company should be blessed with an Alan Pottasch."

Pottasch went on to become Senior Vice President, Worldwide Creative for Pepsi-Cola in 1972.

Roger Enrico, former Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo, as well as a close friend to Alan, said, "Alan had an extraordinary ability to understand and connect with people, whether they were his family, friends, colleagues or consumers of the brands he loved to market. He was a beautiful person -- creative, talented, funny and caring. His passing is a great loss, his memory a great joy to all of us who loved him."

Sources:

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