Advertising: Taking Off with Talk

When they opened for business last spring, the brash young founders of Manhattan's new advertising agency, Wells, Rich, Greene, Inc., promised to "build the most profitable agency in history." With a flair that made even Madison Avenue eyebrows twitch, they started out by getting just about the most publicity in history.

Dazzled by the agency's bright, blonde President Mary Wells, 39, newspaper ad columnists reported her every move; the trade papers began running endless features on "The Gray Flannel Gal" and "The Wondrous World of W.R.G." Soon Sunday supplements, weeklies, even the...