When Things Got Real Part 6: Politics and Blue Rodents
A hedgehog saves me from a political mudpile ...
In the previous installment of my tale, a Creative Director was brought aboard William Eisner & Associates, the suburban Milwaukee ad agency where I took on my first writing job.
Well, writing was one of the things I did—less and less, as time went on. I also designed ads, contributed campaign concepts, wrote and constructed newsletters, took care of Mac hardware and software upkeep and maintenance, put together slide show presentations, etc. I enjoyed it, as I was constantly learning.
The same aspect of my job that I embraced the most—diversity of responsibilities and functions—was disturbing to John, the new Creative Director. Having come from a conventional agency background, he was understandably a bit flabbergasted by all the crossover. In retrospect, I can’t blame him.
Meanwhile, for most of my short tenure there, we had a pretty interesting slate of clients at Eisner, including: Summerfest, Kohl’s, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Reddi Wip, Steinhafels, Associated Bank, Wisconsin State Fair, and Potawatomi Casino.1
One of our clients was Western Publishing, a company in Racine, Wisconsin that for decades had created toys, games, puzzles, and publications for kids of all ages. If you read a Big Little Book or Little Golden Book back in the 60s and 70s, you know Western Publishing.
They were a “non-exclusive” client (which becomes important later), and our account executive for Western Publishing would take me with her to talk about their latest game or toy. (They were about 45 minutes from the agency, so I’d get lunch out of the deal as well.) Sometimes, for example, I would watch kids playing a new game after having it explained to them, then come up with some game names and taglines. Next, I’d write the instruction sheet after seeing how well children understood the rules and gameplay.
The Scourge of Politics
It wasn’t all fun and (literal) games. The Eisner agency was beginning to dabble in work for far-right Wisconsin politicians and causes. I may have been a bit “oversensitive” to potential political potboilers because:
A) I was and am anything but conservative, in the political sense.
B) The very first week I spent employed at Eisner, I had to take time to give over-the-phone testimony (this is before Zoom calls or even the internet) because the new GOP-appointed Director of Tourism—where I’d worked months before—had taken me via private plane (my first airplane ride) to photograph a partisan Republican event for a candidate in northern Wisconsin while I was “on the clock” as an employee of the nonpartisan Wisconsin Division of Tourism. Not good for him.
To Eisner & Associates’ credit (and my everlasting gratitude), I was never asked to do any work whatsoever for political candidates or causes — and, I was shown the door before that era really got up and running.2
Down Comes the Curtain, and a Sonic Boom
With a Creative Director in place who was given some leverage to “normalize” the agency’s workflow, I stood out as an anomalous non-specialist. He began asking me to write down how certain software worked, maintenance procedures for the Macs, “Where to we keep the QuarkXpress and PhotoShop application discs?” etc.
You know what that means…
On the day I was handed my pink slip by Mr. New Creative Director, I had been loaned an acoustic guitar by a colleague, so I was able to walk out of the (now demolished; see above) building with a cardboard box and backpack containing my belongings—and a guitar case in hand.
It would have been a cool photo opportunity.
I made a phone call immediately to the folks at Western Publishing. The agency account executive I’d worked with confided to me that they were not a “contracted client” of Eisner and Associates, so I was not violating any noncompete rules by contacting them to bring them up to date on my employment status.
Fortunately for me, they were pleased to eliminate the middleman. I had my first client. At one point, they asked if I’d played the Sonic the Hedgehog video game. I bluffed and said, “Sure!”
The next thing you know, I’m writing a Sonic the Hedgehog “Look-Look” book and collaborating with artist Art Mawhinny, who just happened to live a few blocks away from the Western Publishing headquarters in Racine.
So, within a few weeks of standing in line at the unemployment agency, I was fortunate enough to be writing my first published work—a Little Golden Book!—and collaborating with a pretty amazing artist.
And getting paid for it. I eventually wrote three Sonic the Hedgehog books.
I remember my first encounter with Mr. Mawhinny; he said, “Nice to meet you! So, you’re the writer.”
Yes. I’m the writer. At last.
Re-Visiting the Launching Pad
After a few years, I would return to the Eisner Building periodically to produce radio spots at Splice Studio, which leased space the building’s basement and eventually moved to the very section of the building in which I started my advertising career. The room that previously contained my desk now functioned as the recording space where the voice talent did their work, and the engineering room with sound board was on the other side of the wall.
Every now and then during a session, Bill Eisner would come by and we’d catch up a bit. I had no hard feelings whatsoever; I still very much appreciate the opportunities he provided and considered him a friend. The agency had rebranded as Nonbox in 2001—Bill told Adweek that the name was not meant to indicate that the agency thinks “out of the box,” but that it declines to acknowledge that any such box exists. Alas, they became fairly well-known for their work for the Republican party.3
Bill, unfortunately, passed away in 2019. His memorial service brought together dozens of old friends and associates; we all recalled his generosity and regretted losing him so early (he was battling cancer). In my case, he gave a naive “person who writes” the opportunity to become a Writer—while keeping doors open to a host of other skills and growth opportunities.
Nonbox, indeed.
My only visits to Potawatomi Casino have been business related, except for when Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS opened a bar/restaurant on the premises and we had to take my son to see their life-sized statues, etc.
By 1998, long after my tenure there, then-Congressman Mark Neumann (R-Wis.) hired William Eisner & Associates to produce ads for his (unsuccessful) U.S. Senate campaign against incumbent Senator Russ Feingold. Later the list would grow to include Steve Forbes for President, Friends of Scott Walker, and Wisconsin Right to Life.
Two John Doe investigations, beginning in 2010 and ending in 2015, were launched by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm (D) into the activities of staff and associates of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). Nonbox was one of 29 “conservative organizations” that were targeted during the course of the second of two John Doe investigations in Wisconsin related to Walker.
Great flashback 'origins' story, John. For those of us around back then, it's a cool trip back in time!