30-Year Adman Will Return To School for Fine Arts By Kathy Tyre

PORTLAND, ORE. - As explanation for his premature retirement, David Kennedy simply says that 30 years in the advertising business has been enough. 'S

An eccentric who showed up in the same denim work shirt and blue jean uniform almost every day of his 11 years at the agency, Kennedy has decided that he wants to sculpt. While he will miss the agency and Wieden, who he calls his best friend, Kennedy wants to return to school for fine arts, the pursuit that led him to advertising in the first place.
‘I got into the advertising business by default,’ he said. ‘I was a fine arts major who couldn’t make a living in fine arts. I became attracted to the business in a decade when Bill Bernbach changed the rules. I was a sucker for Volkswagen, Alka Seltzer . . . I was attracted to it because it was witty, smart and cool.’
Kennedy paired up with Dan Wieden at Willem Cain, Portland, and the two worked on Georgia Pacific, and eventually on Nike.
Copyright Adweek L.P. (1993)