Robert "Bob" Bernstein is an American businessman and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of the advertising company Bernstein-Rein and the founder of Beauty Brands.

Bernstein-Rein

In 1964, Bernstein and Skip Rein opened Bernstein-Rein, a marketing and communications firm located in Kansas City, Missouri. At the time the business was opened, Bernstein had $100 in the bank and took out a $2,500 loan. Bernstein-Rein was retained by

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

in 1967. In 1969, the agency created a series of illustrated glasses for McDonald's called the "Happy Cup." In 1977, Bernstein developed the

Happy Meal A Happy Meal is a kids' meal usually sold at the American fast food restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979. A small toy or book is included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a red cardboard box with a yellow smiley fac ...

packaging for McDonald's. The Happy Meal was tested in four cities before being released nationally in 1979. In 1974, Bernstein-Rein was hired by

Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's ...

to do advertising for

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

. The agency worked with Walmart through early 2007. The agency developed the "Buy American" ad campaign for Walmart in the 1980s, and in the 1990s developed the smiley face frequently used in Walmart's television and in-store marketing. The "Buy American" campaign came under scrutiny after a ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasio ...

'' episode in December 1992 charged that Walmart "imports a number of its private-label clothes while playing up its ambitious 'Buy America' campaign." Before losing its

account in early 2007, BR was one of the six largest independent ad agencies in the United States (36th largest overall), with 350 employees and annual billings of more than $550 million. In 2008, after losing accounts with Walmart and USAA, its gross income was $45.1 million. In the 1990s, Bernstein-Rein developed its own retail business, Beauty Brands, creating a retail approach it described as "InsideOut Retailing". The agency, which had the entire

Blockbuster LLC Blockbuster LLC, formerly known as Blockbuster Video, was an American-based provider of home video and video game rental services. Services were offered primarily at video rental shops, but later alternatives included DVD-by-mail, streaming med ...

account until early 1994, came up with the slogan "Make It a Blockbuster Night". May 21, 2003 was declared “Bob Bernstein Day” by the mayor of Kansas City.

Personal life

He is married to Dr. Phyliss (née Wolkoff) Bernstein, a clinical psychologist. They have three children: Steven Bernstein, Susan Bernstein Luetje, and David Bernstein. The Bernsteins are

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. They are members of Temple B'nai Jehudah in

Overland Park Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

. The Phyliss and Bob Bernstein Humanitarian Award at Jewish Family Services (JFS) is granted yearly.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Bob American businesspeople in retailing University of Oklahoma alumni 20th-century American Jews 1939 births Living people 21st-century American Jews