Gerry Rubin, co-founder of independent agency RPA, has died at age 83. 

A native of Evanston, Illinois, Rubin graduated from Northwestern University in 1962 with the goal of becoming an actor. 

“Gerry jokes that he had aspirations to be a waiter, but he had difficulty memorizing the menu, so he wound up in advertising,” wrote Rance Crain, former editor-in-chief of Ad Age, in an interview with Rubin when he was inducted in the Advertising Hall of Fame in 2013. 

Instead of acting, Rubin landed an entry level role at Leo Burnett, where he spent six years and led its Procter & Gamble business. In 1968, he began an 18-year career at Needham Harper & Steers. He eventually moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, first as account supervisor on Continental Airlines, then as an account director on the agency’s newly-won Honda automotive business.

The opportunity to strike out on his own came in 1986 when Needham merged with DDB at Omnicom—which already handled Volkswagen’s business. So, Rubin and his creative director partner Larry Postaer founded Rubin Postaer and Associates, taking the Honda business, several other accounts and their entire staff. 

Rubin recalled to Crain in the interview that the then-president of American Honda, Koichi Amemiya, remained unruffled by the move, merely asking, “Do the people stay the same?” 

Rubin was also an early adopter at the dawn of the internet age, creating RPA’s Interactive Division in 1995, which designed one of the first advertising agency websites. It did the same for the Honda site, one of the first in the automotive industry. RPA keeps the Honda account to this day, despite challenges over the years. 

Rubin grew the agency from that single account by maintaining a dedication to consistency in its work and investing in its people. The effort kept the agency chugging along, with reported revenue of $137 million in 2022, according to Ad Age Datacenter’s Agency Report 2023.

Personal connections drove Rubin’s philosophy in advertising as well. “For me, what makes great advertising is advertising that resonates in the heart,” he said in 2013. 

RPA Chief Creative Officer Joe Baratelli called Rubin a “true people person.” 

“He had the unwavering trust of our clients and their business needs,” Baratelli said. “Always supporting and championing people to do what’s right in support of the best creative ideas.”

Rubin was known for donning his famous orange cape in the agency’s courtyard to announce RPA’s employee recognition program “League of Extraordinary Associates.”

“He was quite the showman,” said Baratelli. 

Rubin will be remembered for the “personal impact he had on his associates,” the agency said in a statement. He was a “vital leader” who created a nurturing work culture and would draw handwritten cards for every associate’s birthday or anniversary. 

American Honda shared that it was saddened by Rubin’s death.

“Together with his creative partner Larry Postaer, Gerry played an important role in helping introduce Honda automobiles in the U.S. in the 1970s,” American Honda said in a statement. “Working to deeply understand Honda’s design and business philosophy, they created a memorable and impactful tagline that helped define the unique value of Honda products: ‘We make it simple.’ Agency consolidation brought their business relationship with Honda to a crossroads in 1986. But Gerry and Larry chose to remain with Honda and, with the blessing of Honda executives, they established a new agency, RPA. Through the decades that followed, Gerry and the agency he co-founded have continued to leave an indelible mark on the Honda brand.  Our thoughts are with Gerry’s family, his many friends and everyone at RPA.”