Well, OK. Here’s the skinny.
In the evenings I was teaching Advertising Design at the Academy of Art on Sutter Street. During the day I was Executive Art Director at Young & Rubicam. A big time advertising agency now swallowed up into a bunch of letters.
Always looking out for young talent, I barely noticed Dave Sanchez and Mick Kitagawa in my class. Raw, eager young kids with a modicum of talent. Slowly I molded them into potential fodder for the advertising industry.
Our largest account at Y&R was Kaiser Industries. And aside from “Mavrick” (our #1 hit starring James Garner), Kaiser had a long list of industrial products. Each of these products needed many trade ads and programs to help sell them. Perfect for raw,eager, young stupid kids. Bingo. What an opportunity. What a chance to fill their little heads with the glory of working for a big time advertising agency. And right out of school too! I decided to give them their BIG break. I based their salaries on how long they had been out of diapers times two and added carfare. Dangling the bait in front of their starry eyes, I signed them up before their mouths closed. I gave them accounts the day they walked in the door and worked their little pink asses day and night until I walked out the door to become a photographer a few years later. Now, there are insinuations that I paid them “two for the price of one”.
These are scurrilous lies. I took them off the street and put them into an exciting world. I set their names in lights.
The ungrateful curs.
Dave would have wound up selling ladies shoes if I hadn’t saved him and Mick was doomed for “B” movies every time a new one was shot in town. If there are any medals to be given they should be on my chest for paying more than they deserved. Hah! Two for one indeed.
Jack Allen