1. 64 byu magazine | spring 2014
alumni news
Asmall sign in the office of Douglas R. McKinlay (BA ’68,
MA ’69) reads, “Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is
optional.”Advancingyearscertainlydidn’tholdMcKinlayback
from enlisting last spring in an experience normally reserved
for the young: an internship.
For eight weeks the 72-year-old BYU advertising professor
proudly wore his self-selected nickname, the World’s Oldest
Intern, while working in Dallas at the country’s largest inde-
pendently owned advertising agency, the Richards Group.
Landing the internship wasn’t too difficult for McKin-
lay, considering his extensive experience. Nearly 15 years
ago McKinlay founded a creative track in BYU’s advertising
program and later assisted in creating the BYU AdLab, an
award-winning, student-run advertising agency. Despite his
contributions to the program’s success, McKinlay wanted to
give his students more. “I realized I’m teaching essentially the
same material as I was 10 years ago, and the application of and
the venues for creative advertising have changed drastically,”
he says. McKinlay decided that returning to the workplace was
the best way for him to update his curriculum.
“I’ve always been a hands-on kind of person,” he says. Before
teaching at BYU, he owned his own ad agency for 17 years. As
president of McKinlay and Partners, he would accompany cli-
ents on their sales calls to better understand their business and
customer feedback. “I want to hear it all first person,” he says.
“I want to get involved. I want to actually do it.”
That same ardor fueled his desire to revamp what he was
teaching his advertising students, so in January 2013 McKin-
lay approached acquaintance David W. Morring (BA ’89), a cre-
ative director at the Richards Group, to inquire about doing an
internship. At the beginning of McKinlay’s internship, many
of the other interns assumed he was just one of the company’s
full-time employees.
“I was kind of like this enigma,” McKinlay recalls. “People
didn’t know exactly what to do with me or how to treat me.”
But he always had a good response to the questioning looks:
The agency’s founder and sole owner, Stan Richards, remains
heavily involved with the day-to-day operations of his com-
pany at 81 years old. “I would say, ‘Well, I’m younger than
Stan!’” McKinlay laughs. “And that would usually end all the
conversations.”
While his internship consisted mostly of writing copy in
digital mediums for clients (like AAA, Orkin, and Glasses.com)
and contributing ideas at staff meetings, McKinlay also asked
his coworkers—some of the best and brightest in the indus-
try—for advice on teaching creative advertising. He even added
to his curriculum a book on account planning written by an
acquaintance he met through the Richards Group.
Before this internship, McKinlay would give his students
traditional advertising assignments and then ask them to add
digital elements. Now, after working in digital media as an
intern, he preaches the importance of the digital campaign:
“It has to start in the digital world,” he says. “I may be old, but I
totally get it today.”
McKinlay hopes educators realize the importance of staying
flexible and not becoming complacent, especially in fields that
are evolving as quickly as communications. “Occasionally, just
touch down,” he says. “If you don’t do that at least every five
years, you’re behind.”
But for McKinlay, five years isn’t nearly frequent enough.
The lifelong learner keeps up on advertising news and social
media daily and is looking at other internship opportunities
for spring 2015.
Amanda Fowler, director of recruitment at the Richards
Group, adds, “What I hope the student interns took away from
working with Doug is that it’s never too late to continue to
learn and get better at what you do.”
—Natalie Sandberg Taylor (’14)
The World’s Oldest Intern
Advertising professor Doug McKinlay took an unconventional
step to help his students excel.
BRADLEYSLADE
Although he might not blend in with his fellow interns, Doug
McKinlay doesn’t let age keep him from embracing opportuni-
ties to improve the education of his ad students.
“I was kind of like this enigma. People
didn’t know exactly what to do with me or
how to treat me.” —doug mckinlay