Wikipedia's first sentence called it “legendary figure in the history of american advertising”. Today it says “american advertising creative director”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Bernbach quotes”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2010
William (Bill) Bernbach (August 13, 1911, New York City - October 2, 1982, New York City) was a legendary figure in the history of American advertising . He was one of the three founders of Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) and directed ad campaigns such as Think Small for Volkswagen Beetle , which is recognized by Advertising Age as the top advertising campaign of the twentieth century. Bernbach was noted for his devotion to creativity and offbeat themes, a legacy that has credited him as a major force behind the Creative Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s . His work often was characterized by simplicity. He also is credited with being the first to combine copywriters and art directors into two-person teams—they commonly had been in separate departments—a model that still flourishes in advertising agencies today. Other notable campaigns of Bernbach's are, We Try Harder for Avis Car Rental , Mikey for Life Cereal , You Don't Have to be Jewish to Love Levy's for Levy's Rye Bread, and It's so simple for Polaroid . The AMC program, Mad Men , which centers on the fictional ad agency of Sterling Cooper in the early 1960s, makes many references to Bernbach; Bernbach's innovative techniques challenge Sterling Cooper's more orthodox style, and DDB often is mentioned as a competitor in the second season.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 358102694.
The opening as it stood in 2015 7 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
William "Bill" Bernbach (August 13, 1911 – October 2, 1982) was an American advertising creative director.He was one of the three founders in 1949 of the international advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB).He directed many of the firm's breakthrough ad campaigns and had a lasting impact on the creative team structures now commonly used by ad agencies.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 665623331.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
William Bernbach (August 13, 1911 – October 2, 1982) was an American advertising creative director. He was one of the three founders in 1949 of the international advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB). He directed many of the firm's breakthrough ad campaigns and had a lasting impact on the creative team structures now commonly used by ad agencies.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1115527491.
The opening as it stood in 2025
American businessman (1911–1982) William Bernbach (August 13, 1911 – October 2, 1982) was an American advertising creative director. He was one of the three founders in 1949 of the international advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB). He directed many of the firm's breakthrough ad campaigns and had a lasting impact on the creative team structures now commonly used by ad agencies.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1283095025. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “legendary figure in the history of american advertising”. Today it says “american advertising creative director”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Bernbach quotes”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
legendary figure in the history of american advertising
Now
american advertising creative director
Sections that no longer exist
Present on October 6, 2023, absent today, with no near-matching heading in the current article and the article shorter overall, so this is not a renamed heading or a topic absorbed into a fuller treatment. 1 section of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 711 characters shorter.
Bernbach quotes
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