Franklin Parsons Perdue (May 9, 1920 – March 31, 2005), born in Salisbury, Maryland, was for many years the president and CEO of Perdue Farms, now one of the largest chicken-producing companies in the United States.

Background

Frank was the only child of

Arthur Perdue Arthur W. Perdue (1885–1977) was an American businessman and the founder of Perdue Farms along with his wife Pearl in 1920. The business was started in his backyard, and at the time only produced table eggs from chickens, but eventually grew in ...

and Pearl Perdue (nee Parsons).

Career

Perdue Farms was founded in 1920 by

with his wife, Pearl Perdue who had been keeping a small flock of chickens. Their son, Frank, joined the company in 1939 at age 19 after dropping out of college at Salisbury University. Now recognized as a visionary, Frank Perdue's promotion of the Perdue brand through high-profile

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

resulted in its being the first well-known brand of chicken in the U.S. He turned over leadership of Perdue Farms to his son,

Jim Perdue Jim Perdue is an American businessman. He has been the chairman and advertising spokesperson of Perdue Farms since 1991. He is a third generation leader of the company founded by his grandfather in 1920. Like his father, Frank, Jim Perdue grew up ...

, in 1991. Perdue Farms developed a specialized chicken-feed that included marigold blossoms, which imparted a characteristic golden yellow hue to the skins of his chickens. In the 1980s, Perdue twice sought assistance from then-Mafia boss Paul Castellano to fend off a union's effort to represent workers at his company, according to a federal commission on labor corruption.

Advertising

In 1971, Perdue Farm embarked on its first major advertising campaign and had contracted the firm of Scali, McCabe, Sloves. The firm came up with the idea of putting Perdue on television himself, with the tag line, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken." This was fairly radical because at the time, CEOs were not usually public spokespersons for their firms. The first commercial, shot in the city park in Salisbury, was ranked by ''

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mu ...

'' as one of the best campaigns of the year. It was so successful that he went on to appear in over 200 of Perdue Farms' television commercials, although he was known for his shyness as well. Many of the commercials were known for Perdue actually encouraging people to voice any complaints or dissatisfaction with Perdue products, usually ending with Perdue stating "Say whatever you have to say; I can take it". Through this advertising, Perdue is credited with creating the first brand for chicken.

Death

According to Perdue company officials, Perdue died on March 31, 2005, after a brief illness. He was 84.

Legacy

In 1983, Perdue received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

. The Franklin P. Perdue School of Business was established at Salisbury University in 1986 and named for Frank Perdue. In 1991, Frank Perdue was honored with an Edison Achievement Award for his commitment to innovation throughout his career. Frank Purdue was a patron of treasure hunter Mel Fisher, helping fund his expedition to locate the wreckage of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which had sunk off the coast of the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

in 1622. Fisher eventually found the galleon and in 1985 and recovered more than $400 million in gold and gems. Purdue donated much of his portion of the recovered gems and coins to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

and to

Delaware Technical Community College Delaware Technical Community College (previously Delaware Technical & Community College, also known as DTCC, Delaware Tech, or Del Tech) is a public community college in the U.S. state of Delaware. Delaware Tech is an open admission institution ...

References

External links

Frank Perdue Tribute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perdue, Frank 1920 births 2005 deaths American advertising people Salisbury University people People from Salisbury, Maryland American chief executives of food industry companies Businesspeople from Maryland Perdue family