Phyllis Robinson

Phyllis Robinson

Phyllis K. Robinson, copy chief at Doyle Dane Bernbach when it opened in 1949, looks at copywriting today, overrun by technique and “smart-ass, wise-guy stuff,” and is dismayed. “It’s so discouraging,” says the 79-year-old writer whose work for Ohrbach’s, Levy’s bread and Polaroid earned her a spot in the Copywriters Hall of Fame. “Everything now is so frenzied and so obscure. It’s sad because it is a reflection of our culture.” A protégé of Bill Bernbach, who revolutionized advertising communication with the conviction that emotion sells, Robinson finds solace in Apple’s “Think Different” and the Milk board’s “Got Milk?” campaigns.