Stephen Kaplan
FOUNDER
Stephen Kaplan was responsible for one of the world’s most enduring ad campaigns – the iconic Grey Poupon Rolls Royce campaign – you know the one – “Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?” This level of creative was the essence of Stephen’s core focus and creativity. In their recent TV Series, The80sTopTen, the icons that made the decade what it was, National Geographic named the Grey Poupon Commercial as one of the Top Ten of the era.
Stephen produced highly effective ad campaigns that had staying power across multiple markets and platforms. He led creative teams to reposition and transform well-known household brands such as Coca Cola Foods, A1 Steak Sauce, Minute Maid and Gillette, among others.
Stephen drew his last breath on March 22, 2023, succumbing to complications of bladder cancer. He had a long-term partnership with Joanne Sephine, his ex-wife, business partner and Creative Director, who says, “I was immensely blessed to have Steve in my life for most of it. He was kind, caring, enormously talented, with generosity of spirit and I learned everything from him. Steve loved owning an advertising agency in New York City, the city that he loved.”
THE ONE CLUB
Advertising has always been ripe for parodies, but perhaps no spot has been parodied more for its brilliance, its sophisticated humor and its pitch-perfect tone than the Grey Poupon commercial featuring two aristocrats in Rolls Royces and a jar of mustard.