‘Pepsi Generation’ ad exec dies at 79
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- July
- 30
Alan Maxwell Pottasch, a veteran advertising executive known as “the father of the Pepsi Generation,� died in his sleep Friday at the age of 79, Pepsi-Cola North America announced.
He joined Pepsi-Cola in 1957. “In the early 1960s, Mr. Pottasch was among the first to recognize the coming youth culture, dominated by so-called ‘baby boomers,’ ” the company said in a written statement. “The landmark effort shifted the focus of advertising from extolling the virtues of a product to celebrating the lives of its consumers — in this case, the young at heart, optimistic and vibrant ‘Pepsi Generation.’ ” The long-running campaign was introduced in 1963. Pottasch also produced celebrity commercials, including those with Michael Jackson in the 1980s.
Although Pottasch retired from Pepsi in 1991, he continued to serve as a creative consultant to Pepsi-Cola and other PepsiCo divisions, based in Purchase.
Pottasch lived in New Fairfield, Conn., with his wife Lisa and their daughter Allison. He is also survived by a son from a previous marriage, Alan Jr. of California, and a sister, Harriett Selig, of Florida.
Memorial services will be private. A special celebration of Pottasch’s life will be held at PepsiCo’s Purchase headquarters at a date to be determined in September.
His family has requested that donations may be made in his memory to a scholarship being established in his name in the advertising program at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and to the Emergency Medical Technicians service of New Fairfield.
This entry was posted
on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 5:54 pm by Alison Bert.
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