Peter A. Mayer, the legendary New Orleans advertising executive who built the firm that bears his name into a multi-million dollar company that became one of the largest in the Gulf South, died Thursday. He was 86. His company tweeted that Mayer died.
A funny, engaging, creative and often animated presence, Mayer founded Peter A. Mayer Advertising in 1967. When the agency opened, it had just three employees and three accounts. Over the years, the company grew to become a major force in local marketing, with more than 100 employees and billings at one point exceeding $85 million.
It remains one of the largest full-service advertising, public relations and marketing agencies in the south. Current and former clients include Whitney Bank, the New Orleans Saints, Luzianne, Community Coffee, Taaka Vodka, Louisiana Tourism, Zatarain’s and the Audubon Nature Institute.
Though he retired from day-to-day operations, Mayer was still a regular presence at the agency’s Camp Street offices. He admitted his daily visits mostly would consist of checking his mail, planning lunch and sitting on a chair on the sidewalk out front, enjoying a cigar and watching life go by. The Times-Picayune profiled him in a 2008 story, calling him “The Mayor of Camp Street.”
“Mayer is the kind of man who delivers a stream of snappy patter and changes subjects at a furious pace,” Elizabeth Mullener wrote. “He has roaring enthusiasms and infinite impatience. He speaks in exclamation points -- issuing fiats, blurting opinions and making dogmatic declarations without hesitation. He also can tell a joke with the polish and panache of a natural-born stand-up comic. And when it's over, he laughs louder and longer than anyone in his audience.”
They were traits that no doubt served him well in the advertising business. In recent years, he had turned the company over to two of his sons – Mark, who serves as president, and Josh, the chief creative officer. "I still go to the office and 'work.' But I don't work," the semi-retired Mayer told writer Bruce Nolan. "I have a ball."
Mayer was born in 1929 near Mannheim, Germany. When he was just six years old, he and his family fled the country, like thousands of other Jews, to escape Nazi rule.
After his family settled in New Orleans, Mayer attended Alcee Fortier High School. He graduated early, at 16, and then attended the University of Missouri. He studied journalism and after graduation returned to New Orleans to work for The States-Item, the afternoon newspaper that would eventually merge with The Times-Picayune. The closest he got to journalism was a job in the circulation department, however. It was interrupted by a stint in the military during the Korean War.
Soon, a new technology called television was gaining popularity. Mayer seemed to be a natural for the new medium. He joined the local Fitzgerald ad agency, then a major player in New Orleans, and had a hand in creating commercials for Jax Beer, Wembley neckties and other local products. He later went to work for the Walker Saussy firm, before opening his own agency with business partner Dot Cahn in 1967.
Mayer talked with Mullener in 2008 about his love for the creative process, evoking images of the cable TV series “Mad Men.”
"Sitting around a big table, everybody interrupting everybody, everybody having ideas," he said. "The preparation, the anxiety. It was fun. And then you're doing the impossible. They'd ask us to pitch the day after tomorrow and we'd work right through the night. It gives you adrenaline, it gives you a thrill. You feel an excitement that doesn't come every day." As television advertising grew into its own, Mayer became a pioneer in the medium, often producing commercials for clients in the studios of WWL-TV and WDSU-TV. He became such a familiar presence at both stations, he was practically a staff member, friends remembered.
In 1994, the Greater New Orleans Broadcasters Association inducted Mayer into its New Orleans Broadcasting Hall of Fame alongside legendary figures Nash Roberts, Hap Glaudi and Bob and Jan Carr. In fact, it was Mayer who helped the Carrs come up with their still-familiar greeting. While advertising for Luzianne, Mayer encouraged the pair to start commercials with the catchy opener: “This is Bob. And this is Jan. For Luzianne.”
Mayer’s civic involvement over the years included serving as chairman of the United Way fundraising campaign. The non-profit annually presented the Peter Mayer Award, to individuals who exhibit excellence in volunteerism and provide exceptional communication support to United Way. He was also a board member of the Chamber of Commerce and a frequent fundraiser for WYES-TV and supported the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication and was an adjunct professor of advertising at Loyola University.
In 1982, he was awarded the New Orleans Ad Club's Silver Medal Award.
A longtime food lover, he was a member of La Societe des Escargots Orleanais. "To say that food was important to his life would be an understatement," his family said in his obituary. "He looked forward to three things every day: where to have lunch, whom to have lunch with and what to order."
In addition to his sons Mark and Josh, Mayer is survived by a son, Eric Mayer, of Houston; his wife, Linda; and eight grandchildren.
There will be a visitation Monday at 9 a.m. and funeral service at 10:15 a.m. at Touro Synagogue, 4238 St. Charles Ave.. Afterwards, there will be a private graveside service and interment at Hebrew Rest Cemetery #3. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to WYES or The Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana.
