Former Group President & Deputy Chief Creative Officer Worldwide, Leo Burnett Company
Jack Smith is former Group President, Deputy Chief Creative Officer for Leo Burnett Company, Inc. and Leo Burnett Worldwide. Smith changed the way commercials stuck in our minds by changing talk value to hum value. Before it was common for musical artists to lend their songs to brands for use in advertising, original jingles were king. And Smith was the King of the Jingle. His “jingles” however turned out to be more like songs.
His music and lyrics include, “Hallmark Has a Way,” “Feels So Good Comin’ Down” for Seven Up, “Music to Your Mouth” for Nestle Crunch, “Look Out for the Bull” for Schlitz Malt Liquor, “You’re Not Just Flying, You’re Flying the Friendly Skies” for United Airlines and “Slow Dance” for Heinz Ketchup. Smith wrote or co-wrote three Advertising Age Songs of the Year: United Airlines’ “Mother Country” in the mid 70’s, “It’s a Good Time for the Great Taste of McDonald’s” in 1985, and “This is Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile” in 1988.
He not only wrote advertising songs, but created some of the most memorable reputation/heartstring commercials of our time including, “Camp Nippersink,” “Little Sister,” and “Golden Time” for McDonald’s, “Mother Country” for United and “Slow Dance” for Heinz. In all, he won three Cannes Festival Lions, over 20 Clios and many other ADDY®, Mobius and Effie awards, both nationally and internationally.
Upon his retirement in 1994, Smith was a member of the six person Executive Committee of Leo Burnett Worldwide as well as a member of the Board of Directors. His creative responsibilities were worldwide as he spent much of the last two of his 24 years at Burnett supervising the agency’s creative product in some 64 offices around the globe.
As much as Smith changed the game with his award winning creative, teaching may have been his greatest gift. Some of the ad world’s biggest names cut their creative teeth under the creative tutelage of Smith, including Cheryl Berman, recently retired Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett as well as Jim Ferguson and Bob Shallcross, co-creators of “Nothin’ but Net” with Michael Jordan and Larry Bird for McDonald’s and the theatrical movie release, “Little Giants.”
Smith’s desire to teach did not end at Burnett. Upon his retirement in 1994, he served as an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism Advertising Department until 2007.
Smith recruited representatives from major brands like McDonalds, Hallmark, Nokia, SBC and Dr. Pepper to meet with his students and give them creative briefs. The students then wrote, shot and edited the commercials and presented them to the client. In 2003, Nokia loved the work so much they re-produced the two winning commercials and aired them nationally for a three-month period.
Smith’s post-Burnett contributions do not end in the classroom. Smith has written, produced and directed more than 50 corporate and athletic department commercials for the University of Missouri. Smith donates his time and efforts on these projects as a way of giving back to his University. Two of Smith’s recent commercials for Missouri Football were awarded “Best in the Nation” by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) Board of Directors.
Smith’s work at Mizzou not only saves money but also helps raise money. He created the theme, composed the song and created the music video for the one billion dollar fundraising campaign, “For All We Call Mizzou”.
In 1994, Smith received the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest award the University bestows.
His company, Jack Smith Creative Services, currently handles the University of Missouri Health Services account. In addition to the advertising he does for MU Health, this spring he is producing “Coaches for Kids,” a celebrity golf tournament for University Children’s Hospital.
Smith’s ability to work magic with melodies, lyrics, concepts and campaigns has raised the creative bar for all advertisers and was a key ingredient in making Leo Burnett one of the world’s greatest agencies in the 70’s, 80’s, and early nineties.
He has yet to slow down as his post-retirement work at the University of Missouri shows. Whether he’s donating his time to promote the athletic teams, creating the marketing tools for a one billion dollar fundraising campaign, or, perhaps most importantly, shaping the advertising minds of tomorrow, Smith’s big, black, Burnett pencil is still in perpetual motion as he continues to work to help others.
Jack is married to the former Donna Riley, an Advanced Practice Nurse. He has three children, Christopher, Samantha and Jaclyn.
