I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Jerry Della Femina, but I hadn’t until today. As I was perusing through advertising articles (as is my usual), I came across an older Wall Street Journal article that asked Della Femina to list the top five books on advertising. I was thinking, who is this guy and how is he qualified to answer that?

Turns out the guy has been named as one of the most influential advertising people of the century by Advertising Age (#71, by the way). Interesting. He called himself a “publicity slut” – even more interesting. He has made other outrageous comments throughout the years that’s gotten him some headlines. (Good work for the ad guru!). He also wrote an anti-establishment book in 1971: From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor, which was a best-seller. He’s owned a few advertising agencies since 1967 and is still going strong.

So, now that I’ve established for myself and for you what Della Femina’s credentials are (and someone should probably shame us both for not knowing) let’s move on to his expert opinion.
 
1. The 100 Greatest Advertisements 1852-1958 (Julian Lewis Watkins, Dover, 1959)
A collection of the best print ads that produced remarkable results, such as spots from Coca-Cola, “The Pause That Refreshes” and RCA Victor “His Master’s Voice.” It opens with a classified ad published in London in 1900: “Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success — Ernest Shackleton.” He got a ton of responses! And yet, we can’t get enough recruits in the U.S. Army, which spends millions on advertising that promises an education and a future.

 

2. Confessions of an Advertising Man (David Ogilvy, Atheneum, 1963)
And of course, no list would be complete with a book by David Ogilvy. This is the ultimate how-to book on advertising from the “Father of advertising” who reigned from the 1940s to the 1970s.

 

3. Bill Bernbach’s Book (Bob Levenson, Random House, 1987)
Written by Levenson, whom Bernbach mentored, about “the man who changed the face of advertising.” Bernbach earned Advertising Age’s top spot of the most 100 influential advertising people of the century. Bernbach changed the way ads were designed and influenced the advertising world into what it is today.

 

4. A Technique for Producing Ideas (James Webb Young, Advertising Publications, 1940)
A short read at 60 pages, this is a great resource for learning how we get ideas, and the steps everyone “must take to stimulate their minds and produce ideas.” As Della Femina says, “Without ideas, there would be no advertising.”

 

5. Reality in Advertising (Rosser Reeves, Knopf, 1961)
You’ve heard of a USP (unique selling proposition). Here’s a book by the man who created the term that helped his ad agency, Ted Bates, to sell more candy, cigarettes, toothpaste and breath mints than any other agency in the world. Ever heard of this one? “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” Reeves was a serious man in his ad agency, but he allows some humor and flair into his book.