Benton & Bowles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Benton & Bowles (B&B) was a New York-based advertising agency founded by William Benton and Chester Bowles in 1929.

The agency's success was closely related to the rise in popularity of radio. Benton & Bowles invented the radio soap opera to promote their clients' products, and by 1936 were responsible for three of the four most popular radio programs on the air. [1]

In 1956, B&B and their client Procter & Gamble launched the nationally-televised soap opera As The World Turns on CBS.

B&B created some of the most memorable commercials on television including "Look Ma No Cavities" for Crest toothpaste and "When E.F. Hutton Talks, People Listen" for the New York brokerage house.

Benton & Bowles merged with D'Arcy-MacManus Masius (D-MM) in 1985 to form D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B). The agency later merged with Leo Burnett to form BCOM3 which was subsequently bought by Publicis marking the demise of the Benton & Bowles brand.