Former Industry Leader Len Matthews Dies at 87

Len Matthews, a player in the advertising world for several decades, and under whose leadership endearing symbols such as the Jolly Green Giant, Pillsbury Dough Boy and Tony the Tiger were created, has died in San Diego. He was 87. The cause of death, said Jim Matthews, his son, was pneumonia. In 1981, U.S. News & World Report named Matthews among the United States' "most influential persons." In addition to his 28-year career at Leo Burnett Worldwide Advertising Agency (based in Chicago), Matthews was also a president of the American Association of Advertising Agencies and assistant secretary of commerce in the Ford administration. In 1998, he was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Fame. During Matthews' tenure (1948-75) at Burnett, he worked with companies such as Allstate Insurance, Green Giant Foods, Procter & Gamble, Kellogg's, Pillsbury and United Airlines. When Matthews joined the agency in 1948 as a marketing analyst, it claimed billings of $12 million. When he left in 1975 as its president, the company billed $600 million.When, in 1975, Matthews took a sabbatical to join President Gerald Ford's cabinet as assistant secretary of commerce, he described the experience as a "crash course in international trade, which compressed four years experience into one."In 1977, he returned to advertising as president of Young & Rubicam in New York. There he managed a group of 10 subsidiaries providing a variety of marketing services to hundreds of U.S. companies. As president of the 4A's from 1979-89, he built and maintained relationships within the advertising industry, not only in the U.S., but in all free-market countries, and more than doubled the size of its membership. In 1984, he led the initiation of the Partnership for a Drug-free America. He expanded its services to members, took an activist role in government relations and increased cooperation among the profession's organizations -- the American Advertising Federation and the Association of National Advertisers.Matthews also served as a director of the Advertising Council, the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the Consumer Research Institute. He served on the boards of a Chicago-area Boys Club, the Chicago Educational Television Association and the Wheatridge Foundation. In 1990, Matthews moved to Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego, where until his death, he lent his wealth of experience in various consultative endeavors including Capener, Matthews & Walcher, a full-service, San Diego advertising firm run by his son Jim, known today as Matthews | Evans | Albertazzi. Matthews was born Jan. 6, 1922 in Glen Dean, Ky. He was the eldest of seven children born to Clell Matthews & Zetta Sarver Matthews of Falls of Rough, Ky. He was married 67 years to Dorothy F. Matthews, 87, also of Rancho Santa Fe.Matthews attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., then graduated summa cum laude at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where he earned a B.S. degree in business. From 1943-46, he was an ensign in the U.S. Coast Guard and served on an LST in the Philippines during World War II. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, daughter Nancy Ulrich of La Costa, Calif., and sons Jim Matthews of Del Mar, Calif., and Douglas Matthews of Sherman Oaks, Calif. He also leaves 10 grandchildren: David, Amy, Elizabeth and Jonathan Ulrich, and James Jr., Taylor, Charles, Chase, Daniel and Julia Matthews. He leaves brothers Russell of Warsaw, Ind., James of San Marcos, Calif., and Edgar of Sterling, Ill., and sisters Reba Reed of Kokomo, Ind., and Anna Schulz of Olivenhain, Calif. A memorial Web site in Matthews' honor can be found HERE.A memorial service will be held at Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 925 Balour Dr., Encinitas, Calif. 92024, at 11 a.m., June 20. For those who knew and loved Len and Dottie Matthews, please join a celebration of Len's life at a 1-4-p.m. reception at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, 5951 Linea Del Cielo, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., (858) 756-1131In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to United Cerebral Palsy of San Diego, 8525 Gibbs Dr. #100, San Diego, Calif., 92123 or go to www.ucp.org/ucp_local.cfm/45 and click on "Support UCP."

Brand Marketing

Former Industry Leader Len Matthews Dies at 87

Adweek Staff

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Adweek Staff