Who

The founder and CEO of the agency that bears her name, Kaplan Thaler is the originator of the Aflac duck and the climaxing Herbal Essences lady, among other seminal figures in contemporary advertising history.

Backstory

A Bronx native and City College grad, Kaplan Thaler spent the 1970s as a stand-up comedian, actress, and musician. By the end of the decade, she'd turned her talents to advertising, writing jingles for Life Savers and—perhaps most infamously—composing the ditty "I Don't Want to Grow Up" for Toys 'R' Us while working at J. Walter Thompson. (The company uses the song to this day.) In 1994, she became executive creative director at Wells Rich Greene BDDP, an agency co-founded by advertising pioneer Mary Wells. She went out on her own in 1997, setting up the Kaplan Thaler Group with partner Robin Koval.

Of note

Over the last few years, Thaler's agency has been responsible for such mind worms as Herbal Essences's "Totally Organic" campaign—the one with all those women having orgasms—and the ubiquitous Aflac duck, which debuted in 1999. (She says she came up with the quacking duck after she and her team had trouble remembering the insurance company's name.) Other clients over the past few years have included Continental Airlines, Marshalls, Celebrex, Outback Steakhouse, and Foxwoods Resort Casino. More recently, the company created the "Why Settle?" campaign for Revlon featuring Halle Berry and the "Evolve" campaign for Trojan. (One recent campaign that was considerably less successful: Pfizer's spots for Lipitor featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik; the ads were pulled from the air in early 2008.) Once one of the fastest growing indie ad agencies, the Kaplan Thaler Group was acquired by Bcom3 in 1999. After Bcom3 was purchased by Publicis, the company became a subsidiary of the French communications giant. But LKT still runs the creative show at her small agency, and still keeps a synthesizer, which she uses to compose the occasional ad jingle, in her office.

In print

What's the secret to Kaplan Thaler's success? Niceness, according to the second book she published with agency president Robin Koval. Against the conventional wisdom that women have to play tough to get ahead in business, The Power of Nice counsels them to "keep a stash of fun-sized candy bars on your desk or nearby. When the people who come to see you seem tense, tired, or cranky, pop open your drawer and pass out the Snickers."

On screen

In 2006, LKT judged an Apprentice-like reality show on Oxygen called Making It Big. Alas the six-episode series received little attention and was eventually cancelled.

Personal

Thaler's husband, Fred, is a composer; they have two children, Michael and Emily. The family lives in a four-bedroom duplex on Fifth Avenue, in the same building as famed lawyer Barry Ostrager.