Review of the S.O.S ad
Weintraub Aims Pitch for RCA Account
Agency buys full page in ‘New York Times’ to send Morse-coded message to Gen. Sarnoff and other top RCA executives.
IN a spectacular bid for the RCA advertising account, William H. Weintraub & Co., New York, placed a full-page ad in last Thursday’s New York Times at a cost of approximately $5,280.
The advertisement, which attracted much attention, was dominated by the letters “RCA” written in Morse code—a device obviously calculated to appeal to Brig. Gen. David Sarnoff, chairman of the RCA board, who was a Morse code operator early in his succesful career and has kept an avid interest in it ever since.
The Weintraub ad action stemmed from the fact RCA is withdrawing its advertising account from J. Walter Thompson Co. [CLOSED CIRCUIT, Dec. 21, 1953] and had invited several agencies to make presentation for the business. The following agencies h ave already made presentations at the request of RCA Kenyon Eckhardt, Grey Adv., and Al Paul Lef among others. The Weintraub agency had been asked officially to appear for solicitation
The Weintraub ad did not mention the RCA account, but merely said: To the executives and management of Radio Corporation of America: Messrs. Alexander, Anderson, Baker, Buck, Cahill, Cannon, Carter, Coe, Coffin, Dunlap, Elliott, Engstrom, Folsom, Gorin, Jolliffe, Kayes, Marek, Odorizzi, Orth, Sacks, Brig. Gen. Sarnoff, R. Sarnoff, Saxon, Seidel, Teegarden, Tuft, Watts, Weaver, Werner, Williams. Gentlemen : An important message intended expressly for your eyes is now on its way to each one of you by special messenger.
