WELLS, MARY GEORGENE BERG

born May 25, 1928, Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. ne Mary Georgene Berg American businesswoman whose successful work in advertising was marked by creativity and humour. At age 18 Wells attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1950 she moved to New York City. After a stint as fashion advertising manager for Macy's department store, Wells joined the advertising agency of McCann-Erickson, Inc., where she worked from 1953 to 1956. She then moved to Doyle Dane Bernbach, where she became copy chief and vice president in 1963. In 1964 she accepted the offer of a senior partnership in Jack Tinker & Partners, a prestigious agency noted for its creativity. There her imagination and drive flourished. Working especially with copywriter Richard Rich and artist Stewart Greene, she directed the development of a series of memorably amusing and award-winning television commercials for Alka-Seltzer. The trio also developed a full campaign to revamp the image of Braniff International Airlines. Early in 1966 Wells left Tinker and with her two coworkers established Wells, Rich, Greene, Inc. They immediately captured the Braniff account, and many other large accounts quickly followed. As a leader in humorous advertising, the agency became one of Madison Avenue's premier ad companies, and Wells served as chairman of the board and chief executive officer. In 1971 she was named advertising woman of the year by the American Advertising Federation.