George Washington Hill became President of American Tobacco Co. after his father Percival Hill

Percival Hill

Percival Hill was a cricketer.The brother of Australia captain Clem, Percival Hill was a right-handed batsman. He played one first-class match for South Australia, making just 2 runs in his only innings.-External links:...

. He hired public relations expert Edward Bernays

Edward Bernays

Edward Louis Bernays , was an Austrian-American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda along with Ivy Lee, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations"...

 to reverse the taboo against women smoking in public, which he did successfully by his advertisement campaigns.

Early life

Hill started his education at Williams College

Williams College

Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...

, but left during 1904 before graduating. His father was vice president of the American Tobacco Company

American Tobacco Company

The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company...

 and as such George also worked there. After the company acquired the brand of Pall Mall cigarettes, George was responsible for sales and under his management the cigarettes became the most popular among Turkish tobaccos. As a result of an antitrust lawsuit the company was divided into four competing companies in 1911. Senior Hill was the president of the new American Tobacco Company and his son was assigned to be a sales manager. The Lucky Strike

Lucky Strike

Lucky Strike is a brand of cigarette owned by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and British American Tobacco groups. Often referred to as "Luckies", Lucky Strike was the top selling cigarette in the United States during the 1930s.- History :...

 brand was introduced five years later by the company and George was in charge of the new brand, designing its advertising and marketing campaigns largely by himself.

Presidency

In 1925 George Hill's father died and he became the new president of the company. A year later Lucky Strike accounted for one fifth of U.S. cigarette sales, and the brand was among the five best-selling US-consumed cigarettes. In 1927 he began directing his marketing efforts toward women, which was a first. The success of the advertising campaign, which used movie actors and singers to promote the brand, is attributed largely to renowned publicist Edward Bernays

Edward Bernays

Edward Louis Bernays , was an Austrian-American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda along with Ivy Lee, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations"...

, hired by Hill. Lucky Strike soon accounted for 38 percent of U.S. cigarette sales. During the Great Depression the company remained successful and Hill's salary exceeded $2,000,000. He made a substantial investment in advertising and sponsored Your Hit Parade

Your Hit Parade

Your Hit Parade, is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During this 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or...

 and the Jack Benny Show. He also sponsored Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

, Ethel Smith

Ethel Smith

Ethel Smith may refer to:* Ethel Smith * Ethel Smith -See also:* Ethel Smyth, composer and suffragist Ethel Smith may refer to:* Ethel Smith (organist) (1910-1996)* Ethel Smith (athlete) (1907-1979)-See also:* Ethel Smyth, composer and suffragist Ethel Smith may refer to:* Ethel Smith (organist)...

 and Lawrence Tibbett

Lawrence Tibbett

Lawrence Mervil Tibbett was a great American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang with the New York Metropolitan Opera company more than 600 times from 1923 to 1950...

.

Death

George Washington Hill died in 1946 at age 61, in Canada's Quebec province. He is interred in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York is the resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent Old Dutch Burying Ground. Incorporated in 1849 as Tarrytown Cemetery, it posthumously honored Irving's...

 in North Tarrytown (now Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow

-Fiction:* The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, an 1819 short story by Washington Irving* Sleepy Hollow , a 1998 adaptation of Washington Irving's short story* Sleepy Hollow , a 1999 movie by Tim Burton...

), NY.

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