John Michael Salmon, known as "Smokey" Salmon, (18 January 1931 – 7 April 2017) was an advertising executive who was known for his role at

Collett Dickenson Pearce Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners (CDP) was a British advertising agency which operated from 1960 till 2000. It was founded by John Pearce and Ronnie Dickenson who bought an existing agency owned by John Collett. The agency played a pivotal ro ...

(CDP) and for "firing" the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

as a client after their

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

department attempted to interfere with his agency's creative process.

Early life

John Salmon was born in

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...

, London, on 18 January 1931 to Thomas and Amelia Rose Salmon. In 1953 he married a Frenchwoman, Suzanne Jouvray, who later became a painter.Obituary: John Salmon.
''The Times'', 25 April 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.

Career

After service in the Royal Air Force, where Salmon became close friends with the writer

Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books, history and military history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air Fo ...

, he worked as a typographer and copywriter in advertising. He got a job at the American agency

Doyle Dane Bernbach DDB Worldwide Communications Group LLC, known internationally as DDB, is a worldwide marketing communications network. It is owned by Omnicom Group, one of the world's largest advertising holding companies. The international advertising networks ...

and in 1967 at

(now

Dentsu Dentsu Inc. ( ja, 株式会社電通 ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dentsū'' or 電通 ''Dentsū'' for short) is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is currently the largest adverti ...

) in London where he rose from copywriter to creative director and later chairman, being known as "Smokey" Salmon. The agency has been described by Mark Whelan as being, in its heyday, "''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its fict ...

'' personified". At CDP, Salmon worked with

Charles Saatchi Charles Saatchi (; ar, تشارلز ساعتجي; born 9 June 1943) is an Iraqi-British businessman and the co-founder, with his brother Maurice, of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The brothers led the business – the world's largest a ...

and

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

. He mentored Alan Waldie who developed the

Benson & Hedges Benson & Hedges is a British brand of cigarettes owned by American conglomerate Altria. Cigarettes under the ''Benson & Hedges'' name are manufactured worldwide by different companies such as Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, Philip Morris USA, British ...

"Gold" cigarette campaign. He recruited

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif ( ar, عمر الشريف ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub , 10 April 193210 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the ...

to appear in advertising for

Olympus Olympus or Olympos ( grc, Ὄλυμπος, link=no) may refer to: Mountains In antiquity Greece * Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology * Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Les ...

cameras and

Alan Whicker Alan Donald Whicker (2 August 1921 – 12 July 2013) was a British journalist and television presenter and broadcaster. His career spanned almost 60 years, during which time he presented the documentary television programme ''Whicker ...

to promote

Barclaycard Barclaycard (; stylized as barclaycard) is a brand for credit cards of Barclays PLC. , Barclays had over ten million customers in the United Kingdom. History Barclays launched Barclaycard on 29 June 1966, initially as a charge card, but followin ...

. He developed memorable print advertising for the British Army and the Metropolitan Police. He "fired" the Ford Motor Company after their PR department attempted to interfere with his agency's creative process. When Frank Lowe, later Sir Frank Lowe, left CDP to form Lowe Howard-Spink, Salmon declined an invitation to join them.Former CDP chairman John Salmon dies.
John Tylee, ''

Campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

'', 12 April 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017. He was described by Lowe as "one of the three greatest copywriters of the late 20th century" along with Tony Brignull and David Abbott. Jim Aitchison has written that as creative director of CDP, Salmon "presided over that agency's golden years of creativity".

Later life

After retirement in 1994, Salmon studied

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and obtained two degrees from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

. He and Suzanne indulged their interest in

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

and cookery. Salmon was an enthusiastic follower of American baseball. He died on 7 April 2017 and was survived by his wife and three children.

Selected publications

*''CDP: Inside Collett Dickenson Pearce''.

Batsford Batsford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh. There is a falconry centre close to the village and Batsford Arboretum is nearby, ...

, London, 2001. (With John Ritchie)

References

External links