David Kennedy (advertising)


David Kennedy is an American advertising executive who co-founded Wieden+Kennedy. He and Dan Wieden were listed as number 22 on the Advertising Age 100 ad people of the 20th century.

Early life

Kennedy graduated from University of Colorado at Boulder with a fine art degree in 1962. In 1962, he moved to Chicago to work in the advertising industry. The following year he married Kathleen Murphy, with whom he had five children. During the '60s and '70s he worked for Leo Burnett Worldwide and Young & Rubicam in Chicago before moving to Portland, Oregon in 1979.

Wieden+Kennedy

He met Dan Wieden at the ad agency of McCann-Erickson in Portland while working on the Nike, Inc. account in 1980. They took Nike with them as a client in 1982 and remain the agency of record. Kennedy retired in December 1993,
but continues to work part-time on the American Indian College Fund, a pro bono account for W+K. In retirement he makes metal sculptures and resides in Clackamas County southeast of Oregon City.