The ad world attracts some interesting people, and no wonder. The level of creativity required to come up with a unique idea that stands out in a sea of unique ideas is sky high. While you may be familiar with some of the big names in the history of the biz, like guru David Ogilvy, or founder of modern advertising David Lasker, some of the famous names that have worked in advertising may surprise you.

Herschell Gordon Lewis, for example. While he may not be a household name, he’s well-known to horror movie fans and cult film buffs as the father of “the splatter film.” Also known as the “Godfather of Gore,” Lewis started producing and directing low-budget films in the ’60s, such as Two Thousand Maniacs. Lewis recouped his minimal investments in spades, cashing in on the movies’ drive-in popularity and the burgeoning interest in horror movies.

Lewis was a master of marketing, and no wonder. He started out as an adman, working for an agency and teaching graduate courses in advertising at night. He then moved on to directing commercials for Alexander and Associates before he turned to film directing. Despite his notoriety as a filmmaker, Lewis still cranks out the books on marketing and also teaches seminars. He has a new film planned for 2009.

Comedian and TV star Bob Newhart also started in advertising, working as a copywriter for independent film and TV producer Fred Niles in Chicago in 1959. Newhart and one of his co-workers entertained each other with humorous phone calls, which became the basis of his audition tapes and helped develop the schtick that would later make him famous.

Other funny men have also worked in advertising, such as Stan Freberg, who voiced a multitude of Warner Bros. characters, and Don Novello, who worked in Chicago as a copywriter for Leo Burnett before donning priestly garments as Saturday Night Live’s Father Guido Sarducci. Terry Gilliam, the filmmaker and Monty Python cast member responsible for the comedy troupe’s bizarre animations, worked at an advertising agency when he was fresh out of college.

Actors who have worked in advertising before becoming famous names include Sir Alec Guinness, who wrote copy before making his stage debut, and Rick Moranis of Ghostbusters and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids fame. Pretty in Pink director John Hughes also started as an ad man.

It’s not just funny guys and filmmakers who worked in the advertising world. Some of the greatest literary writers have also written ad copy, most notably F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby (and the man who coined the term “The Jazz Age.) Mystery writers Dorothy L. Sayers and Dashiell Hammet (The Thin Man) also worked in the ad biz, Ms. Sayers using it as the subject of one of her acclaimed ’30s novels, Murder Must Advertise.

If you find it surprising that advertising attracts so many brilliant minds, Oozil doesn’t. That’s why the site was created: to bring together today’s best creative workers. Whether you seek the next great literary mind, a forward-thinking filmmaker, or a comic genius who can turn out witty phrases, Oozil is the meeting place.

Find the next big thing at Oozil –even before it’s the next big thing.

By Elizabeth Kelly

As Oozil stays on the cutting edge of creative micro-marketing, we constantly keep our eyes opened for what’s happening in the world of advertising. Here’s a brief round-up to keep you in the know as well.

Sunday night’s premiere of AMC’s hugely acclaimed series Mad Men has the Internet buzzing as the show begins its third season. The flagship show for AMC, Mad Men takes place in the center of the world of advertising, during the period of post-war affluence that defined the concept of the American Dream: the ’60s.

In William Bradley’s Huffington Post article , he argues that even though Mad Men takes place in the past, it’s every bit relevant to the present. Says Bradley: “Advertising is a fascinating industry, an intriguing window into our society and ourselves. It’s how we are sold, and how we sell ourselves, on things. It both reflects and mutates life’s fundamentals. ”

In the New York Daily News , writer Patrick Huguenin argues that Mad Men’s main character Don Draper would have a hard time surviving in today’s marketing world without making some modern adjustments. To step it up, he’d have to “…get on Twitter, address increasingly specific minority and youth audiences, throw even sexier parties and – here’s the rub – try not to drink so much at work.”

Huguenin goes on to give us stats on five real-life advertising geniuses –the modern day Mad Men and Women– who would give Don Draper a serious run for his money.

British Airways hasn’t yet resorted to advertising in the waterways, but they have decided to use ad placement to help counter their recent slump. The airline recently announced that they would begin placing ads on their boarding passes (making them the first major European airline to do so), and also open up their web page to ads. With 500,000 hits daily, BA expects third-party advertisers to pay well for placement on their site, and Jaguar has already anted up.

Advice to British Airways: use some of  the money earned from selling ads to generate your own.  All too many financially-strapped companies cut their ad budget in times when they need it the most.  A good campaign has been known to completely turn around a business. (Another thing Oozil knows.)

By Elizabeth Kelly

Reading Oozil’s blog is one way to keep up with what’s new in advertising and creative work, but there’s an even better way. Join the site. Become a part of Oozil and don’t just read about it in the news; be a newsmaker yourself.

As Oozil prepares to move us into the future, it’s interesting to think about the past and its relationship to advertising. As much change as we’ve experienced in the last hundred years, from technological advances to social, cultural, and political changes, some of the main components of advertising are still surprisingly the same.

Take a look through the advertisements in 19th century copies of Harper’s Weekly, and while you’ll see unfamiliar products like laundry ringers and velocipedes, you’ll find that the techniques used are similar to ones still in use today. People still buy for the same reasons that they did one hundred years ago, looking for products to enhance their lives in some way.

An 1866 ad for a family sewing machine includes a written testimonial from Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, who says that “…I can hardly see how any thing could be more complete or give better satisfaction.” The celebrity endorsement was in full swing long before radio or television.

Other ads used clever wording and verses to sell their products. Dr. Wolcott’s Pain Paint is proof that there’s always been room for unusual health cures (remember “Head-On. Apply directly to the forehead?”) Dr.Wolcott’s clever poem also alluded to current events, mentioning the impeachment of 1868.

Today, some ad campaigns even reach into the past to find their sales hook. Building a brand can be hard, but if you can associate a product with a pre-existing icon, one that has already established an image, then you’ve built a product image in an instant.

That’s what GAP did a few years ago when they used film footage of Audrey Hepburn in black capris to almost singlehandedly make the look popular with women again. Prior to that, GAP launched a successful ad campaign using actual photographs of legendary people wearing their khakis. And not just any famous names, but some of the most famous names of all time: James Dean, JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Bogart, Picasso.

The effect was more controversial when Dirt Devil chose to splice footage of Fred Astaire dancing with images of their product, making it appear that Astaire was dancing with a vacuum cleaner. While many were appalled and thought it was disrespectful of the movie icon, Dirt Devil left the commercial on for a whole year, enjoying the added attention the controversy brought.

Author Kinky Friedman says that no matter what obscure, jungle-deep, untouched-by-civilization place you travel, the people there will still recognize Elvis, Jesus and Coca-Cola. If that doesn’t show the impact of an icon, I don’t know what does.

While today we’re marketing iPods and phone apps and tomorrow it might be hovercrafts, the message is the same as it was when we were hawking mustache wax. If anything, it only emphasizes the importance of finding creatives who can deliver that message again and again in new and exciting ways.

And where to find them? You’re in the right place.

by Elizabeth Kelly