Young & Rubicam: America’s favourite now available in Norfolk

On 12 October 1944 an article appeared in the Advertiser’s Weekly journal announcing that Young and Rubicam Incorporated, the prominent US advertising agents of New York, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal and Quebec, intended to open offices in the United Kingdom the following year. Many decades later, volumes containing the considerable creative output produced by this new venture over fifty years were donated to The History of Advertising Trust, the largest archive of British advertising in the world, at Raveningham, Norfolk for permanent preservation. After much work we are delighted to announce the project to catalogue this collection in detail has been completed, making it more accessible to potential researchers.

The advertising agency Young and Rubicam were originally founded in 1923 in Philadelphia by John Orr Young and Raymond Rubicam. Starting small they grew quickly, moving to New York and enjoying great success in the North American market. The move to the UK was the company's first step towards expansion into Europe. Their initial premises were at 24 St. James’s Street, London, under the creative control of Managing Director, George Bryson. Over the years the agency has had several different identities (including RKCR/Y&R, Y&R London) and exists today as VMLY&R. Their first account was General Foods, a large US conglomerate which produced a wide range of grocery products including Grape Nuts cereal, Bird’s Custard, Jell-O and Maxwell House instant coffee. Young and Rubicam helped launch and establish the coffee in the UK using slogans such as 'A bouquet in every cup', 'Coffee pot fresh' and 'America’s favourite', as well as enrolling entertainer Bruce Forsyth as a spokesman. Heinz was another prominent early client, working with the agency for decades. Heinz adverts feature in the archive collection dating from 1948 to 1991, for a wide range of products including baked beans, soups, sauces, pickles and baby food. Not quite all 57 varieties but close.

It was common practice in the advertising industry to maintain a hard copy record of all published print advertisements, usually in the form of large bound volumes known as guard books and the Young and Rubicam archive collection is made up of 283 such volumes charting the agency’s advertising output from the 1940’s through to 1996. Advertising represents a mirror on society, an illustration of the way a country or generation perceives itself at any given period of history. The Young and Rubicam guard books are full of interesting examples of print advertising produced on behalf of a wide range of familiar and ongoing brands including Cadbury’s chocolate, Smirnoff vodka, Adidas sportswear, Yardley cosmetics, Daz washing powder, Paramount Film Studios, Chrysler cars as well as some lost to the passing of time such as Top C Breakfast juice and the more recently defunct Toys-R-Us stores.


1958 Daz - YR/1/10/2 

Material of this kind provides a tremendous record of advertising heritage as well as illustrating broader themes relating to social, cultural and political history. Whether helping to illuminate the past or being used as inspiration for new projects in the future, collections such as this are an invaluable historical resource for anyone with a passion for learning about the past. 

For more information about the History of Advertising Trust archive please see our website www.hatads.org.uk or contact us directly: enquiries@hatads.org.uk / 01508 548623.

Mark Pitchforth

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