Today, Wednesday, November 29, 2023, The New York Stock Exchange welcomes executives and guests of the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE: IPG) for the public reveal of the Advertising Hall of Fame 2024 Inductees. To honor the occasion, Susan Credle, Chair of the AAF Advertising Hall of Fame, and Helen Lin, Chair of the AAF National Board of Directors, joined by Josh King, Head of Communications, ICE, Head of Corporate Affairs, NYSE, ring the Closing Bell®.
Photo Credit: NYSE
The American Advertising Federation (AAF), the American advertising industry association, has inducted six new members into the Advertising Hall of Fame. Among them is Olivier François, Global Chief Marketing Officer of the Stellantis Group. The jury justified Oliver François’ induction into the “Advertising Hall of Fame” with his talent for combining commercialism with a sensitivity for social issues and environmental ethics. He has achieved remarkable sales figures and global recognition for his brands by winning over respected personalities from around the world, cultural icons from the film, television and music industries, as well as world-renowned environmentalists.
Notable marketing campaigns by Olivier François include putting the Dalai Lama in a Lancia during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, where he stood up for human rights in Tibet together with actor Richard Gere. He persuaded Nobel Prize winners Mikhail Gorbachev, Lech Walesa and Nelson Mandela to campaign together for free elections in Myanmar. Together with actor Sean Penn, François organized a campaign practically overnight to support Haitian aid organizations, which received Jeep vehicles to distribute food and water after a catastrophic earthquake in the country.
François brought the city of Detroit back into focus. In the midst of the great economic recession, which hit Chrysler’s home city particularly hard, François was responsible for the first two-minute commercial in the history of the Super Bowl, the American football final. The commercial “Imported from Detroit”, which can still be viewed on YouTube today and features music by rapper Eminem, helped to strengthen an industry, a city and a nation (2012).
The famous photo of the lonely blue earth in the middle of deep black space formed the theme for the “Pale Blue Dot” commercial for the launch of the Jeep Wrangler 4xe, the brand’s first electrified vehicle. Again during the Super Bowl, François achieved the feat of having Bill Murray appear in a new version of “Groundhog Day” in an advertisement for the Jeep Gladiatior (2020).
François teamed up with musician Bono’s RED® organization to use FIAT to donate millions to the fight against AIDS and corona. François then managed to convince Bruce Springsteen to appear in the Super Bowl campaign “The Middle” – the first time the musician had agreed to do TV advertising for a brand. Perhaps François’ biggest coup was getting the elusive Hollywood star and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio to be an ambassador for the Fiat 500 Electric.
