Alvin Eicoff, 80, a longtime Chicago advertising executive, died Saturday, March 2, of congestive heart failure in Florida, where he spent winters. Mr. Eicoff knew little of the television world while growing up in Lewiston, Mont. He moved to Chicago in the 1940s and, after working briefly in radio sales, became ad manager of a company called d-Con. It would change his life and that of television advertising, colleague Ron Bliwas said. Mr. Eicoff developed what would become direct-response television–or buying products by calling an 800 number. “He was the first to do that,” Bliwas said. “Someone would come with a product, and he would make a commercial and buy time on television.” Initially, a local answering service was used to take the calls. But eventually 800 numbers became the norm. “He broke the rules of advertising and made them work,” Bliwas said. Mr. Eicoff opened his own agency in the 1950s, and in 1965 he started A. Eicoff & Co., which still specializes in television advertising. Mr. Eicoff said his company succeeded because it wasn’t afraid to represent small–even one-person–businesses. “Our entire business has been built by people who have ideas, but with very limited capital,” he once said. “They come to us, and we look at their products to see if they’re marketable.” Survivors include his wife, Helene; two sons, Jeff and Larry; and four grandchildren. Services will be held at be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Chicago Sinai Congregation, 15 W. Delaware Pl., Chicago.
