Last Friday employees at McCann Bristol celebrated 100 years since the first McCann office opened on Broadway, New York. 

McCann was the brainchild of Harry McCann, a former hotel bellboy, journalist and salesman who went on to become a copywriter at the Amsterdam Advertising Agency before being headhunted by Standard Oil to run their in-house ad department. 
 
In 1912, Harry launched the H K McCann Company, and a network of offices across North America, France and England quickly followed.  In 1930 he joined forces with Alfred Erickson – and the rest is history.
 
The fact that McCann Bristol’s celebrations were held on Friday 13th is deliberate; 13 was the lucky number of Harry McCann, who launched his Agency on the 13th day of the month, insisted on his offices being on the 13th floor, and there are even 13 letters in McCann’s creative philosophy, Truth Well Told. 
 
Edi Fitzgerald, MD Brand & Business Communications, comments: “We are celebrating this significant milestone as heritage and experience counts for a lot and we are proud of ours. 
 
“We have been in Bristol for over 20 years and although a lot has changed in 100 years, the words Harry McCann wrote in 1915 are as relevant today as they ever were ‘When truth is well told it is energetic and convincing’. 
 
“It is for this reason that we have republished Harry’s groundbreaking manifesto for all our 42 staff in Bristol to inspire us into the next 100 years.”

Edi Fitzgerald (centre) and McCann members of staff celebrating 100 years since McCann first opened an office in New York