# Russ Alben
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{{Short description|American advertising executive and composer (1929–2012)}}
'''Bernard Russ Alben''' (December 27, 1929[{{cite news |date=2012-08-29 |title=Bernard Alben Obituary |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?pid=159514916#fbLoggedOut |access-date=2012-10-02 |work=[Legacy.com](/source/Legacy.com) |publisher=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)}}] – August 26, 2012) was an American [advertising](/source/advertising) executive and [composer](/source/composer). He served as the Vice President and Creative Director of [Ogilvy & Mather](/source/Ogilvy_%26_Mather) from the early 1970s until his retirement in December 1981.[{{cite news|first=Mallory|last=Russell|title=Former Ogilvy Creative Director Russ Alben Dies |url=http://adage.com/article/people-players/ogilvy-creative-director-russ-alben-dies/236893/ |work=[Advertising Age](/source/Advertising_Age) |date=2012-08-28 |access-date=2012-10-02}}] Alben is credited with writing the [Good & Plenty](/source/Good_%26_Plenty)'s Choo Choo Charlie [jingle](/source/jingle) and creating the [Timex](/source/Timex_Group) watch advertising slogan, "[It takes a licking and keeps on ticking](/source/It_takes_a_licking_and_keeps_on_ticking)."[
==Biography==
===Early life and career===
Alben grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York and graduated Midwood High School. He received a [bachelor's degree](/source/bachelor's_degree) in 1951 from [Syracuse University](/source/Syracuse_University), where he contributed to Radio Station WAER. He briefly worked as a [producer](/source/television_producer) for several [children's television show](/source/children's_television_show)s, such as ''[Bozo the Clown](/source/Bozo_the_Clown)'', before beginning a forty-year career in [advertising](/source/advertising).][
===Advertising===
Alben began his career in the ad industry by working as a [copywriter](/source/copywriter) at [Benton & Bowles](/source/Benton_%26_Bowles) and then [Grey Advertising](/source/Grey_Advertising).][ Many of his accounts dealt with accounts for children's toys and other products, including manufactured by [Mattel](/source/Mattel), [Hasbro](/source/Hasbro) and the [Ideal Toy Company](/source/Ideal_Toy_Company).][{{Cite book|last=Kline|first=Stephen|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780860913979|url-access=registration|title=Out of the Garden: Toys, TV, and Children's Culture in the Age of Marketing|date=1993|publisher=Verso|isbn=978-1-85984-059-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780860913979/page/168 168]|language=en}}][{{Cite book|last=Stern, Sydney Ladensohn.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1036894342|title=Toyland : the high-stakes game of the toy industry|date=1990|publisher=Contemporary Books|pages=57|oclc=1036894342}}] He often had his two sons play with new toys to come up with commercial ideas. Alben created [ad campaign](/source/ad_campaign)s for [Hot Wheels](/source/Hot_Wheels) and wrote the script for the first [Barbie Fashion Show](/source/Barbie).[
Alben also worked on campaigns for foods, candies and children's cereals. He wrote the jingle [Good & Plenty](/source/Good_%26_Plenty)'s Choo Choo Charlie television commercials. Alben held an advertising account for [Post Cereal](/source/Post_Cereal) during the 1960s. He wrote songs for two of Post's advertising [mascots](/source/mascots), [Linus the Lionhearted](/source/Linus_the_Lionhearted) and [Sugar Bear](/source/Sugar_Bear).][
During the Fall of 1968, Alben became the [creative director](/source/creative_director) of the Carson Roberts Agency, based in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles), [California](/source/California). Alben became the Vice President and Creative Director of [Ogilvy & Mather](/source/Ogilvy_%26_Mather) in the early 1970s, when Ogilvy acquired the Carson Roberts Agency. He remained the creative director of Ogilvy & Mather until his retirement in December 1981.][
===Composer===
Alben and his wife, Ruth, wrote both of the official albums for the [1964 New York World's Fair](/source/1964_New_York_World's_Fair), ''Jump to the Fair'' and ''Hop to New York''. Alben also teamed with Jerry Hart to write the music for a play based on the life of [Albert Einstein](/source/Albert_Einstein) called "The Smartest Man in The World."]