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From The

ALAN ABRAMS
Special to The Jewish News

L

ast October, 100 years of
"tradition" was shattered
when W.B. Doner &
Company became the first
Jewish-owned advertising agency to
represent an automobile manufactur-
er.
Historically, the big car companies
have kept their brand advertising at
predominantly gentile agencies like J.
Walter Thompson, Campbell-Ewald,
McCann Erickson and D'Arcy Masius
Benton & Bowles.
Doner beat stiff competition to
snare the $240 million Mazda
account. That accomplishment came
despite those who questioned Doner's
ability to survive after the catastrophic
Aug. 4, 1996, fire that destroyed the
agency's Southfield office building and
virtually all its contents.
This month, Alan Kalter, Doner's

,

Local advertising giant WB. Doner
has overcome a disastrous fire to make industry history.