Nice, looking forward to finding out!
Nice, looking forward to finding out!
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
-Barack Obama
The Fuzz... any word back on who they were?
I'm curious to know too!
Well, here's what I've come up with so far. I got this from our Corporate Archivist. I still have my feelers out there for the rest of it. I've put a call out to a couple marketing people who may have the information as well. This is the response I got from our archivist.
I would think they would have more information about J L Benjamin considering that is the name we use on our dummy Centurion cards. I've got one in my desk right now and it has the same name and card number on it as the pictures you see of it. I'm sure it wasn't the one used in the pictures, but you never know...Anthony is correct about CF Frost, whose full name is Charles F. Frost. He worked as an account executive for Ogilvy & Mather, our advertising agency in the 1960s. JB Atkins was a former American Express employee named Jane Atkins. LA Webb is Lisa Webb, another former AXP employee. Lisa worked on the advertising campaign for the Blue from American Express Card in 1999, when we launched this product. I do not have information about Benjamin or Roeglin.
[It is important to note that for legal reasons American Express needs to use the name of an actual person, who has signed a contract with the company, granting American Express permission to use his or her name on a "dummy" card.]
This is interesting. The other two names mentioned, JB Atkins and LA Webb I have not seen on any other card advertisements. Were these names previously used?
This J L Benjamin man sounds like he must have exclusively done work for the Centurion card only since his name has not been used on the marketing of other cards.
Again, interesting information and I'm sure the others on here will agree. You mentioned "dummy" Centurion cards. Are these mailed out to customers for marketing, as dummy Gold and Platinum cards are sometimes mailed out with marketing materials?
Thanks for digging that up. I recall seeing LA Webb but I don't think I remember JB Atkins.
It's nice to see American Express pays homage to the workers that help make their cards a success. I wonder if they will use the same names as long as those cards exist?
Disclosure: I am a moderator/paid staff of this site, which does have advertising relationships with some credit cards that are discussed. Regardless, anything I say is my honest opinion.
Current Cards: American Express: Blue Cash, Simply Cash Bank of America: WorldPoints Platinum Plus Chase: Amazon, British Airways, Cash Plus Rewards, Freedom, Ink Cash Citi: Thank You Premier, Dividend Platinum Select Discover: More
Primary Everyday Card: American Express Blue Cash
Primary Travel Card: Citi Thank You Premier
J B Atkins is the name I see on the large poster type advertisements. We have a few of them hanging around the office here and I have seen the name on advertisements in airports as well.
The dummy centurion card isn't sent out for marketing or anything. The one I have is exactly one of a very small number of dummy cards that were made of it. It is exactly the same as the card you see online. Same card number and everything. It is even made out of titanium just like the ones that are issued. I've got it in the presentation box with all the material and everything. They are harder than hell to get even as an employee. I had to pull strings with a manager in the Centurion department to get it. It is amazing how many employees have never seen one in person. My wife works for Centurion travel and that group hadn't even seen the card. So the dummy cards are kept pretty close to the vest. They are real cards with a name and a magnetic stripe and everything. They just aren't attached to real accounts.
It sounds as if these dummy Centurion cards were made for commemorative purposes only then. I would imagine they had to keep a tight lid on them to prevent employees from selling them on Ebay. Up until recently I would see several people at any given time selling expired Centurion cards on there. It looks like Amex now put a lid on that and most likely asks Ebay to remove the listings when they pop up.
It's astonishing that your wife works in the Centurion travel department and they haven't shown her the product she represents. One would think they would be taught everything about the product (the Centurion card) as part of their normal training for the position.
i remember searching for centurion on ebay before too and saw one for sale. people were also selling luggage tags and the black ink magazine from it too. i don't know why people buy this stuf...... i mean can you say POSER??! the people that buy luggage tags or magazines are obviously trying to pass themselves off as something they're not.