Don Tennant was born in
Sterling, IL in
1922. He earned a degree at
Knox College in
Galesburg, IL, and during
World War II served as a lieutenant in the Navy.
After the war, he moved to
Chicago and began his career writing and producing for network radio programs. In
1950, Tennant joined the
Leo Burnett ad agency as its first full-time radio-TV writer and producer. In
1952, he created
Tony the Tiger character to sell Kellogg's
Frosted Flakes cereal. In
1955, he came up with the idea for the macho
Marlboro Man to promote
Marlboro cigarettes.
Over the years, Tennant came up with other popular
advertising slogans such as the
Pillsbury song, "Nothin' says lovin' like somethin' from the oven," and
United Airlines' signature theme, "Fly the Friendly Skies of United."
After resigning from Burnett in late 1970, Tennant worked for
Clinton E. Frank, and in
1973 he started his own company, Don Tennant Advertising. In
1987, the company was bought by Nobel Communications Co. He remained as a consultant until the late 1990s.
Tennant died of
congestive heart failure on
December 8, 2001 at his home in
Los Angeles. He is survived by three children, Andy, Tim, and Tracy, and six grandchildren.