Linda Kaplan Thaler, author of My Life in 30 Seconds

TVC 748.4: Ed welcomes Linda Kaplan Thaler, Advertising Hall of Fame executive and the creative genius behind the Aflac Duck, the Toys R Us Kids jingle, Clairol's "Yes! Yes! Yes!" campaign, and many other popular ads that have become permanently engrained in American culture. Linda's memoir, My Life in 30 Seconds, is a very funny, yet often very moving, book that not only looks at creativity, resilience, leadership, failure, reinvention, and the moments that change us forever, but includes many stories about some of the people behind those famous ads, including heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and Tony Hassini (the actor who played Magic Burger King), plus encounters with James Patterson, Cynthia Nixon, President Bill Clinton, and many others. My Life in 30 Seconds is available at Amazon.com. Topics this segment include how Linda first found her path in advertising; how Mariette Hartley's wry delivery in her famous Polaroid commercials with James Garner had a tremendous impact on Linda as she wrote copy for her own ad campaigns; and how Linda's career in advertising "was not about networking, but 'nice-working.'"