George Lois (June 26, 1931 – November 18, 2022) was an American art director, designer, and author. Lois was perhaps best known for over 92 covers he designed for Esquire magazine from 1962 to 1973. Background Lois was born in New York City on June 26, 1931, the son of Greek immigrants. Lois attended The High School of Music & Art, and received a basketball scholarship to Syracuse University, although he chose to attend Pratt Institute. Lois attended only one year at Pratt, then left to work for Reba Sochis until he was drafted six months later by the Army to fight in the Korean War. Career CBS After the Korean war, Lois went to work for the advertising and promotions department at CBS where he designed print and media projects. In 1959 he was hired by the advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach. After one year there, Lois was recruited by Fred Papert and Julian Koenig to form Papert Koenig Lois in 1960. PKL, as it was known, was also the first advertising agency to ever go public. Lois Holland Callaway Agency In 1967 he left to form Lois, Holland, Callaway. His last agency, Lois/USA, which created memorable campaigns for clients such as Minolta, Tourneau, and The Four Seasons, ended its run in 1999. Braniff Airways Account On December 1, 1968, Lois obtained the coveted Braniff International Airways account (Mr. Lois's website incorrectly dates his time at Braniff was in 1967). Advertising doyenne Mary Wells Lawrence left the Braniff account for a new airline account with TWA. At Braniff, he formulated the revolutionary "When You Got It, Flaunt It" campaign for the airline that resulted in an 80 percent increase in business as a result of the new advertising. Lois incorporated a series of memorable and unique television commercials that paired unlikely celebrities as Andy Warhol and Sonny Liston sitting on Braniff aircraft seats discussing unique and unlikely subjects. The Big Idea Lois developed what he called "The Big Idea". He claimed to have created the "I Want My MTV" campaign, and was quoted in the book MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video: I said, “Do you guys remember a campaign I did, where famous baseball players, like Mickey Mantle, say, ‘I want my Maypo!?’” Maypo was kind of a baby cereal, and I told my client back then, “It’s oatmeal. I don’t know why it’s