Although he had decided upon advertising as his preferred field, he was unable to obtain work in that line. Bernbach started at the bottom of the corporate ladder when he found work in the mailroom of Schenley Distillers Company. With his mind focused on an advertising career, the young man found himself whiling away his hours creating ads for his employer. He submitted one of his ads to Schenley's in-house advertising department but received no response. After a time, he saw his words appear exactly as he had written them, in the
New York Times. In fact, so much time had passed since his ad's submission that Schenley's ad men had lost the identity of its creator. Fortunately, it did not take Bernbach long to make sure that Lewis Rosenthiel, the president of Schenley's, learned of the ad's true origin. Rosenthiel appreciated Bernbach's creative spirit, not to mention his brazenness in approaching him about his own intellectual property. He gave Bernbach a raise and placed him in the advertising department.
During the 1939-40 New York World's Fair Bernbach worked as a ghostwriter for the promotion department. When the fair ended he joined the William H. Weintraub ad agency.
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