Obituaries - Feb. 21, 1999

Carl Ally; Inventive and Humorous Advertising Executive

Carl Ally, 74, an influential advertising executive whose humorous and oftentimes “grab them by the throat” ads for such firms as Federal Express helped reshape the industry. Ally grew up in Detroit and attended the University of Michigan. His career in advertising took off when the small regional firm he worked for sent him to New York. Dissatisfied with the staid forms of advertising that had been the norm, he started his own firm when he got Volvo’s account and produced a series of ads that boldly emphasized the car’s reliability and safety. Advertising Age recognized Ally’s agency as 1981 Ad Agency of the Year, citing “some of the freshest, most arresting--and effective--advertising the industry has seen.” The publication cited such creations as the FedEx speed talker (“I know it’s perfect Peter that’s why I picked Pittsburgh.”). A sign hanging on the wall in Ally’s office summed up his attitude. It read: “Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comfortable.” On Feb. 15 in Rowayton, Conn., of a heart attack.