You Know the Work… But Not the Agency

Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (DFS) was an ad agency, founded in Chicago in 1923. You’ve probably never heard of them. And that’s okay. They merged with other agencies and ultimately were absorbed by Saatchi & Saatchi and folded into Publicis Groupe (the world’s 2nd or 3rd biggest ad agency – depending on which list you believe).

But you know their work. For over 100 years the brains behind DFS brought us a laundry list of the best ad campaigns of all time. Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” campaign was their brainchild. The Energizer Bunny, a mainstay of advertising for more than 50 years, was also created by DFS. 

However, I was always most impressed by DFS campaigns for public advocacy. They were not only good, they changed behaviors and saved lives.

Since 1944, the US Park Service has used Smokey the Bear and his line “Only you can prevent forest fires.” Dancer Fitzgerald Sample created the campaign. Since the 1980s, Gen X has known “You could learn a lot from a dummy.” The NHTSA sponsored campaign featuring Vince and Larry, two crash test dummies. US seat belt usage was only 27% when the campaign first launched, but grew to 67% by the time the campaign was retired in 1999.

You know the work, but not the agency.

Similarly, Madison+Main has been doing public advocacy campaigns – on a smaller scale – here in Virginia for years. We’re very proud of the work we’ve done with Virginia Energy Sense over the past 10 years, helping Virginians reduce power consumption and saving money on power bills. We’ve helped Virginia’s Office of the Attorney General combat gun and gang violence, fentanyl overdoses and human trafficking since 2017. (The results have been fantastic). 

More recently we’ve DriveSmart Virginia and WRAP (the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over folks) get the word out about drunk and distracted drivers. And proud to say that the Commonwealth is leading the way.

Just like DFS, you’ve seen the work, but probably didn’t know the agency. And that’s just fine with us. We’d rather get the results than the fame.

And as Paul Harvey used to say,”…and know you know the REST of the story.”