Frank Perdue
Encyclopedia
Salisbury, Maryland
-Demographics:Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury-Ocean Pines CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Salisbury metropolitan area and the Ocean Pines micropolitan area , which had a combined population of 176,657 at the 2010 census.As of the census of 2000, there were...
, was for many years the president and CEO of Perdue Farms
Perdue Farms
Perdue Farms is a major chicken processing company based in Salisbury, Maryland, United States with annual sales in excess of $4.6B.-Origin and war era:...
, now one of the largest chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
-producing companies in the United States.
Career
Perdue Farms was founded in 1920 by Arthur PerdueArthur Perdue
Arthur W. Perdue was the founder of Perdue Farms along with his wife Pearl in 1920.The business was started in his backyard, and at the time only produced table eggs from chickens. The company he started in his backyard grew in to the $4.1 billion company it is today.-Legacy:The Arthur W...
with his wife, Pearl Perdue who had been keeping a small flock of chickens. Their son, Frank, joined the company in 1939 at age 19 after dropping out of college.
Now recognized as a visionary, Frank Perdue's promotion of the Perdue brand through high-profile advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
resulted in its being the first well-known brand of chicken in the U.S. He turned over leadership of Perdue Farms to his son, Jim Perdue
Jim Perdue
Jim Perdue has been the Chairman and advertising spokesman of Perdue Farms since 1991. He is a third generation leader of the company founded by his grandfather in 1920....
, in 1991.
Perdue Farms developed a specialized chicken-feed that included marigold
Tagetes
Tagetes is a genus of 56 species of annual and perennial mostly herbaceous plants in the sunflower family . The genus is native to North and South America, but some species have become naturalized around the world. One species, T...
blossoms, which imparted a characteristic golden yellow hue to the skins of his chickens.
Advertising
In 1971, Perdue Farm embarked on its first major advertising campaign and had contracted the firm of Scali, McCabe Scoves. The firm came up with the idea of putting Perdue on television himself, with the tag line, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken." This was fairly radical because at the time, CEOs were not usually public spokespersons for their firms. The first commercial, shot in the city park in Salisbury, was ranked by Advertising AgeAdvertising Age
Advertising Age is a magazine, delivering news, analysis and data on marketing and media. The magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930...
as one of the best campaigns of the year. It was so successful that he went on to appear in over 200 of Perdue Farms' television commercials, although he was also known for his shyness as well. Much of the commercials were known for Perdue actually encouraging people to voice any complaints or dissatisfaction with Perdue products, usually ending with Perdue stating "Say whatever you have to say; I can take it".
Through this advertising, Perdue is credited with creating the first brand for chicken.
Education
He attended Salisbury State University, now known as Salisbury UniversitySalisbury University
Salisbury University is a public university in Salisbury, Maryland.According to U.S. News and World Report's 2009 America's Best Colleges index, "In guidebooks and surveys by U.S...
, whose business school is named after him, but he dropped out during his sophomore year to join his father's company as its third full-time employee.