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Died 13 May 2016, Warrenton, Virginia, United States Books The Care and Feeding of Ideas, Care and Feeding Similar Roger Greenaway, Roger Cook, Billy Davis | ||
William Montague "Bill" Backer (June 9, 1926 – May 13, 2016) was an American advertising executive.
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He became an industry legend for creating the slogans "Things go better with Coke", further defining the product as "the real thing", and convinced the world that Miller Lite was "everything you ever wanted in a beer, and less", and should be consumed at "Miller Time".
In 1971, Backer created the Coca-Cola campaign and accompanying song "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)".
His advertising career started in the mailroom of McCann Erickson in 1953, rising to creative director in 1972, and vice chairman of the agency in 1978. In 2015, when the AMC television series Mad Men concluded with fictional character Don Draper's conception of the "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing..." campaign while the character was working at McCann Erickson, media outlets contacted Backer, asking him if he was the basis of the Don Draper character. He told the New York Times, "I'm not Don Draper".
In 1979, he co-founded Backer & Spielvogel (with Carl Spielvogel), which eight years later became Backer, Spielvogel & Bates Worldwide, Inc., one of the world's largest marketing and advertising communications companies. This worldwide corporation had 178 companies in 55 countries, and employed 8,500 persons—1,000 Americans and 7,500 nationals of the countries in which business was being conducted.
In 1999, Advertising Age included his name in a list of the top 100 players in advertising history.
Thoroughbred breeding and ownership
Backer was elected as a member of the Jockey Club in 2004. Backer also served on the Board of Directors of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. As owner of Smitten Farm near The Plains, Virginia, he bred and owned a number of stakes performers, including 2009 Grade 3-Turf Virginia Oaks winner Blind Date (by sire Not for Love) and also seven-time stakes winner Applause (by sire Shecky Greene).
Personal life
Backer was born June 9, 1926, and raised in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, and served two years in the United States Navy. He earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1950. Backer was married for 30 years to his wife Ann (née Mudge). The two split time between Smitten Farm and a home in Nokomis, Florida.
Backer died on May 13, 2016, in Warrenton, Virginia. He was 89.