City College’s Ad PR program is honored to be the home of the George Lois Archives. We are proud of our relationship with Mr. Lois, an advertising icon, who is also an Advisory Board member for CCNY’s Branding and Integrated Communications program (BIC).
His ground-breaking work, which spans 60 years, provides students and scholars with an unparalleled insider’s perspective on the creative process and on the role of advertising in our culture.
Mr. Lois is a regular guest lecturer in the Ad PR program’s advertising classes. Students can learn from one of advertising’s “greats” about the creative process and about landmarks in his career. This kind of exposure is unique and cannot be duplicated by any text.
The George Lois Archives gives students first- hand exposure to a treasure trove of work that includes his television, radio, print advertising and logo designs. Scripts, correspondence, photography and a cache of original designs, layouts, and other memorabilia are also available to students and visitors for research.
Mr. Lois’s decades-long career spanned many high points. Examples include his friendship with Paul Robeson, boldly fighting McCarthyism at CBS Television; his vital roles with Robert Kennedy and other major politicians; his iconic Esquire covers widely regarded as prescient and essential to the American iconography; his collaboration with Doctor Benjamin Spock and the Committee for Sane Nuclear Testing (SANE), which was instrumental in generating support for the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963; his dynamic relationship with legendary boxer Muhammad Ali; and his efforts to help Rubin “Hurricane” Carter reverse his unjust murder conviction. Mr. Lois’s breakthrough work was the spark that enabled advertising to transcend simply selling products. His advertising campaigns—I Want My MTV, Tommy Hilfiger, Xerox, Lean Cuisine, Braniff, USA Today, Jiffy Lube, Reebok, ESPN among others—are an integral piece of Americana.
George Lois in 1972
Last Updated: 04/01/2024 11:54