Milton Harry Biow (July 24, 1892 – February 1, 1976) was an American advertising executive who founded the Biow Company. Biow is recognized as one of the pioneers of the modern school of

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 ...

Biography

In 1917, Biow started a one-man advertising office in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It quickly grew to become one of the largest advertising agencies in the United States topping $50 million in revenues at its highest winning major accounts such as

Anacin Anacin is an American brand of analgesic that is manufactured by Prestige Consumer Healthcare. Its product contains aspirin and caffeine. History Anacin was invented by William Milton Knight and was first to be used circa 1916 as stated in the ...

, Pepsi‐Cola,

Eversharp Eversharp is an American brand of writing implements founded by Charles Rood Keeran in 1913 and marketed by Keeran & Co., based in Chicago. Keeran commercialised ''Eversharp'' mechanical pencils (manufactured by two companies, Heath and Wahl), the ...

, Ruppert beer, Schenley whisky and

Lady Esther Lady Esther was the trademark of a cosmetic manufacturing company founded by German-born Syma Cohen and her siblings in Chicago in 1913 and operated as Lady Esther Company. It was incorporated in Illinois in 1922 and became America's top selling b ...

cosmetics. Biow's agency was credited as the first to develop a national advertising campaign that used short and catchy advertising slogans on radio and television (such as "Bulova Watch Time" and Johnny's "Call for Philip Morris"). He was also responsible for bringing ''

The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour ''The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour'' is a collection of thirteen black-and-white one-hour specials airing occasionally from 1957 to 1960 (as opposed to the thirty-minute regular series, '' I Love Lucy''). The first five were shown as specials during ...

'' to television and the '' Take It or Leave It'' to radio (which later became the '' $64,000 Question).'' In 1934, he purchased

WBBR WBBR (1130 AM) is a Class A clear-channel radio station licensed to New York, New York. It serves as the flagship station of Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg L.P.'s radio service. The station offers general and financial news reports 24-hours a day ...

with Arde Bulova and changed the

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

to WNEW, for "the NEWest thing in radio". In 1956, he disbanded his agency after the loss of several major accounts. His firm was the starting point for advertising executive Norman B. Norman. In 1964, Biow wrote ''Butting In: An Adman Speaks Out'' which told the story of his time in advertising.

Personal life

Biow was a founder of the

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

and was active with the

United Jewish Appeal The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was a Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization that existed from its creation in 1939 until it was folded into the United Jewish Communities, which was formed from the 1999 merger of United Jewish Appeal (UJA), Cou ...

, the United Hospital Fund and the

Muscular Dystrophy Association The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is an American 501(c)(3) umbrella organization that works to support people with neuromuscular diseases. Founded in 1950 by Paul Cohen, who lived with muscular dystrophy, it works to combat neuromuscular di ...

. He was married Sophie (née Taub) Biow (1895-1943); they had two children, Richard Biow (married to Chinese translator and writer Adet Lin, daughter of

Lin Yutang Lin Yutang ( ; October 10, 1895 – March 26, 1976) was a Chinese inventor, linguist, novelist, philosopher, and translator. His informal but polished style in both Chinese and English made him one of the most influential writers of his generati ...

) and Patricia Biow Broderick (married to actor

James Broderick James Joseph Broderick III (March 7, 1927November 1, 1982) was an American actor. He is known for his role as Doug Lawrence in the television series ''Family'', which ran from 1976 to 1980, and he played a pivotal role in the 1975 film ''Dog Day ...

). He was a member of

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.Jewish Post (Indianapolis)
13 April 1956 , ''Milton H. Blow, who is almost a legend in the advertising field, is disbanding the company under his own name, after a fabulous career which saw his firm rise to the top in a highly competitive business. He is credited with having developed Little Johnny and his “Call for Philip Morris,” and the “$64 Question.” Biow is a member of Temple Emanu-El in New York''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Biow, Milton H. American advertising executives 1892 births 1976 deaths Biow family Businesspeople from New York City