Alan M. Pottasch, a New Fairfield resident whose enduring “Pepsi Generation” ad campaign energized PepsiCo marketing for five decades, died July 27 in Los Angeles where he was working on a television commercial. He was 79.
Pottasch served in the Navy Air Corps during World War II, and in 1949 graduated from Pennsylvania State University.
Intrigued by the then-emerging television medium, he attended a director”™s school in New York City and then worked eight years at ABC.
Joining Pepsi in 1957, within five years Pottasch would lead the team that coined the “Pepsi Generation” theme. Among the longest-running ad campaigns ever, his commercials won 60 major awards, including the coveted Grand Prix at Cannes. Pottasch produced some of the industry”™s most famous celebrity commercials, including the campaign featuring pop music icon Michael Jackson at the height of his popularity in the 1980s. The commercial”™s filming became news itself when Jackson”™s hair caught fire with the cameras rolling.
Pottasch retired in 1991 but continued to consult on projects for the Purchase, N.Y., company. He owned a Piper Cub airplane and enjoyed scuba diving.
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