The following quotes are from David Ogilvy's books,

"Ogilvy on Advertising" and

"Confessions of an Advertising Man."

“A lot of advertisements and television commercials look like minutes of a committee meeting, and that is what they are.

“ Advertising seems to sell most when it is written by a solitary individual. He must study the product, the research and the precedents. Then he must shut the door of his office and write the advertisements.”

“I abhor advertising that is blatant, dull, or dishonest. Agencies which transgress this principle are not widely respected.

Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your own family to read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't tell them to mine.

The pursuit of excellence is less profitable than the pursuit of bigness, but it can be more satisfying.”

“H.L. Mencken once said that nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. That is not true. I have come to believe that it pays to make all your layouts project a feeling of good taste, provided that you do it unobtrusively. An ugly layout suggests an ugly product. There are very few products which do not benefit from being given a first class ticket through life.”

“Resist the temptation to write the kind of copy which wins awards. I am always gratified when I win an award, but most of the campaigns which produce results never win awards because they don't draw attention to themselves.”

“I don't believe in this specialisation. Who said that there's one breed of cat which is an account executive, and then there are the creative people — and they are quite different?

This has been perpetuated by both sides for years. It's nonsense.

Nowadays it is the fashion to pretend that no single individual is ever responsible for a successful advertising campaign. This emphasis on "teamwork" is bunkum — a conspiracy of the mediocre majority.”