ADVERTISING'S "3 OR 4 OVER 60"!

You've undoubtedly heard of BusinessInsider's collection of the "30 Most Creative People Under 30" list (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-30-most-creative-people-in-advertising-under-30-2017-1). Or been invited to meet Adage's "40 Under 40" (http://adage.com/article/special-report-40-under-40/meet-ad-age-s-2017-40-40/308139/). Well, when we extended those age limits, we found that some of the industry's most creative minds haven't turned in their key cards yet. You can find a few of them still walking slowly down the halls of some of the hottest agencies in the business!

So, we present a totally complete, subjective yet randomly numbered list of people in advertising of a certain age group: "Advertising's 3 or 4 over 60"! 

1. Lee Clow Age: 76. Oh sure, if you weren't in the business, he may look like someone who wouldn't know how to set up an apple extreme base station in his home. But sure as rain, he can make you want one! This timeless ad guru has been the brains and eye behind advertising's, as well as pop culture's, most famous campaigns. Nike, apple, Nissan, The Energizer Bunny, and apple again, just to name a few. And his flip flop show no signs of stopping! (UPDATE: Shit, wait a second, he retired a couple of years ago. Dammit!)

2. James Walter Thompson. Age: 172 (if he were alive today). James Walter Thompson, or better known to his friends in the 1800s as "Handlebar" due to a mustache he donned centuries before "Movember" was ever a social thing, created not only advertisements but the advertising agency as we know it. He didn't go to a Miami Ad School or Creative Circus, he got his start in the business the old-old-old school way; By being a bookkeeper at an agency that sold ad space in religious magazines! Today, his design for the rock for Prudential Insurance is still their logo. And even though his agency was absorbed by Wunderman, his last name is still on the door. Talk about an enduring advertising career! 

3. The Morton Salt Girl  Age: 106. Since showing up for work on her first day back in 1914, The Morton Salt girl has been an advertising staple almost as much as salt is in our diets! This more than a century old icon has seen two world wars, 2 pandemics and 17 US presidents (18 if you consider Trump a “President”) and there’s no signs of her hanging up her umbrella yet if the rate of high blood pressure in the United States is any indicator!

4. Thick Black Plastic Glasses (also includes tortoise shell) You can't swing a dead manifesto around without hitting someone wearing these age old spectacles. They're as much a part of agency war rooms now as they were back in the day. Except now, some of them don't hold real prescription lenses in them and they were ordered from WarbyParker online. But that's how they've persevered, accepted change, embraced technology, and stayed relevant well into their later years. The thick black plastic rims we're talking about, here. Not anyone in particular. Just. The. Glasses. 

So, there you have it. Some of the industries hottest and most experienced advertising names eligible to withdraw from their 401(k) without penalty!

EDITOR'S NOTE: While you may be thinking "What about the other 55 or 56 people over 60 in advertising, so it could be a nice evenly balanced 60 over 60?" Well, as soon as we find some, we will add them to the list! Meanwhile, GTT is a very YOUNG agency, only 5 years old but chuck full of experience of those under 60.