Leo Pearlstein may be 95 years old, but that hasn’t slowed him down. The Los Angeles resident and founder of the public relations firm Lee & Associates just released his fourth book, “Adventures in PR,” which chronicles his 62 years in the industry.
The work is filled with tales of how Pearlstein got creative in his quest for good publicity for his clients. A chapter called “Sexy Jayne Mansfield Loves Turkey,” for example, is all about when the PR pro worked on a campaign called “Anytime Is Turkey Time.”
He needed an attractive celebrity to wear an apron that said, “How about a turkey BBQ?” and figured the actress and sex symbol was the perfect choice. Mansfield’s agent wanted compensation for the actress, so prior to signing the contract, Pearlstein negotiated 24 free turkeys for her and four for her parents in Texas. The result was a publicity success.
“We sent the photo of Jayne barbequing a turkey to all the na-tional grocery trade publications and we sent photos to all of the major supermarket meat managers in the state of California and, practically every one of them put her picture up on the wall in their offices, which reminded them of turkey everyday,” Pearlstein writes.
In other chapters, Pearlstein discusses promoting stuffing on KABC talk radio and fixing the public image for the Los Angeles Smoking and Curing Co. after a large recall of whitefish. Some of his stories involve celebrities such as Sean Penn and Steve Allen.
One chapter details an experience with Abbott and Costello, in which the comedy duo was making the 1952 movie “Jack and the Beanstalk” and Pearlstein was doing public relations for the California egg industry. Playing on the character of the goose that lays golden eggs in the fairy tale, Pearlstein tied it into promotional materials — for one ad, Abbott and Costello were photographed with a 10-foot frying pan. The campaign worked, and the egg business received an uptick in sales.
Pearlstein writes, “In 1952, we came up with the promotional program ‘Two eggs for you in ’52.’ Why two eggs? We wanted people to be sure they had two eggs for breakfast instead of one — for better nutrition. Here we are: we can say Abbott and Costello are two good eggs and we can talk about eggs and the Golden Egg. So that’s what started the whole promotion.”
Although Pearlstein could have retired decades ago, he said he enjoys working and having responsibilities. It wasn’t until 2012, when his eyesight declined and he lost his biggest client — who he’d had since 1950 — that he decided to close up shop.
“I found myself with nothing to do,” he said. “I wasn’t used to that. I was worried to death. I’ve never learned how to just goof off.”
So, he decided to write a book about his life in PR. He dictated it over the phone to his secretary, who would type it up and send it back. Pearlstein then put it on his enlarger to read. His son Howard, who has worked at Lee & Associates since high school, edited the book.
Pearlstein, a resident of Carthay Circle, has two other books on public relations and another composed of favorite recipes of celebrities. He went through publishers for those, but for “Adventures in PR,” he decided to self publish via CreateSpace, an Amazon company.
“It was fantastic doing it this way,” he said. “Everything is electronic so they just print when they get orders, and I can send it to anyone through email.”
Nowadays, Pearlstein spends his time promoting “Adventures in PR,” listening to audio books, giving PR lectures and consulting. He also plays the drums in his living room nearly every day to his favorite New Orleans jazz songs.
“If I get tired or bored, I put on my old records or a CD, close the doors, and turn up the music as loud as possible,” he said. “I get a kick out of playing the drums.”
When Pearlstein was 16, he and his family moved from New Jersey to L.A. He attended Los Angeles High School, and then majored in marketing at USC. While in college, he helped out at his father’s food market on 61st and Figueroa streets. After working locally for the military giving aptitude tests to soldiers during World War II, he started a job at an advertising agency. In 1950, at age 30, he opened his own business.
The PR agency was run with Pearlstein’s wife of 69 years, Helen, who was a librarian. Although she died five years ago, Pearlstein said she was there for him and the business until the end. She would do research for campaigns, and “we would brainstorm together. She would love to participate and come up with ideas.”
The couple had three sons together, two of whom, Frank and Howard, ended up as partners at Lee & Associates. While they were still together at the firm, Pearlstein said, “I had a tremendously successful and happy relationship with both of them. They are both extremely creative with different talents. I’m so happy that it worked out.”
After 62 years in PR, Pearlstein is grateful for his career, and the opportunity to become friends with all kinds of people whom he admired.
“I’m losing a lot of them because of age, but it was great to meet people who were talented and work with them. It was a real pleasure.”
