David Ogilvy Quotes

The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything. She wants all the information you can give her.

Marketers are out there trying to figure out how to get your money out of your child.

What needs to change is the nature of advertising itself. That business hasn't really evolved since the days of Don Draper.

There are now unmistakeable signs of a trend in favor of superior products at premium prices. The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife.

My wife called me a mule. She once said, "I didn't marry a man; I married a mule!" I kept thinking about it. It was in the back of my head. I think it makes a good title for an album.

Don't underestimate the power of the vigilante consumer.

No, I most certainly do not think advertising people are wonderful. I think they are horrible, and the worst menace to mankind, next to war; perhaps ahead of war. They stand for the material viewpoint, for the importance of possessions, of desire, of envy, of greed. And war comes from these things.

The car, the furniture, the wife, the children - everything has to be disposable. Because you see the main thing today is - shopping.

It's silly for me to raise expectations too much, but I think I'm right on the basic trend, which is shifting power to consumers.

One way to sell a consumer something in the future is simply to get his or her permission in advance.

A salesman called on my wife the other day and tried to sell her a freezer. You'll save a fortune on your food bills, he promised. I can't tell you how much you'll save. It'll be tremendous. Said my wife: I'm sure you're right, but we're already saving a fortune with our new car by not taking the bus. We're saving a fortune with our new washing machine by not sending out the laundry. We're saving a fortune with our new dishwasher by giving up the maid. The plain truth is that right now we just can't afford to save any more!

Nothing can shock a brave man but dullness.

You can define advertising as the science of creating and placing media that interrupts the consumer and then gets him or her to take some action.

Treat all economic questions from the viewpoint of the consumer, for the interests of the consumer are the interests of the human race.

[The consumer is] the supreme mover of economic order... for whom all goods are made and towards whom all economic activity is directed.

Take the so-called standard of living. What do most people mean by "living"? They don’t mean living. They mean the latest and closest plural approximation to singular prenatal passivity which science, in its finite but unbounded wisdom, has succeeded in selling their wives.

An extravagance is something you buy which is no earthly use to your wife.

The consumer today is the victim of the manufacturer who launches on him a regiment of products for which he must make room in his soul.

The real fact of the matter is that nobody reads ads. People read what interests them, and sometimes it's an ad.

A baboon in a forest is a matter of legitimate speculation; a baboon in a zoo is an object of public curiosity; but a baboon in your wife’s bed is a cause of the gravest concern.

...went to a bar for a few drinks. The bartender asked what I wanted. "Surprise me", I said. So he showed me a naked picture of my wife.

Young wives are the leading asset of corporate power. They want the suburbs, a house, a settled life, and respectability. They want society to see that they have exchanged themselves for something of value.

Everything is about consumerism. If there's money to be made, there will be an audience and people will feel empowered and I truly believe that women haven't fully tapped into their potential as a market.

I was told by a girl once that I should teach a course on how to kiss properly. I thought that was really a nice compliment. I then asked her what she thought about my sexual prowess and she recommended I talk to a guy she used to date. Body blow.