Ben Duffy, the head of the agency and a close personal friend of the general, was particularly unhappy. BBD&O, then the third-largest advertising firm in the country, was more or less the Republican house firm. Duffy decided that they had to recast Ike. He was stiff and awkward in his formal presentations; therefore it was important to show him in commercials and in quasi-spontaneous appearances, reacting to other people, becoming more like the attractive, magnetic Ike everyone knew and loved. In addition they had to change the harsh television lighting, which was generally set up by the newsreels people, who still dominated the technical logistics. It made Ike look old and gray. The word went out that no Eisenhower television appearance was to be scheduled without BBD&O clearing it.Since every good advertising campaign needed a theme, BBD&O decided to develop one: It wanted to maximize the idea of Ike the returning hero, welcomed home by a grateful nation, in order to minimize Ike the political candidate, who had a responsibility to speak on his own behalf.
