Rich Silverstein leaves GS&P after 43 years. An AI phone line will give his feedback

Rich Silverstein will step down from Goodby Silverstein & Partners on 31 December 2026, the agency said. He will become founder and chairman emeritus. Silverstein, 77, co-founded the San Francisco agency in 1983 with Jeff Goodby and Andy Berlin. It was called Goodby Berlin & Silverstein until 1993.

He has worked in advertising for 58 years, the San Francisco Standard reported. MediaPost and Campaign also covered the news.

Silverstein’s got milk? campaign started in 1993

Silverstein is an art director by training. He is best known for got milk?, the 1993 campaign with the lowercase line that became part of pop culture. GS&P also made Budweiser’s lizards, rock-themed ads for EA and Super Bowl spots for BMW in 2022 and 2024.

Lee Clow, the TBWA founder, told the Standard that the West Coast agencies, with GS&P at the centre, challenged advertising. Jeff Goodby said Silverstein “makes everyone around him better”.

GPT Rich answers the phone in Silverstein’s voice

The agency marked the exit with a phone line called GPT Rich. It uses an ElevenLabs voice and a Twilio phone number. The model was trained on decades of Silverstein’s interviews and gives feedback on ideas in his style, Campaign reported.

Silverstein himself uses AI tools but told the Standard he worries about what AI will do to people who work in advertising. He plans to keep busy. One project is a musical about the Cuban missile crisis.

Sarah Thompson and Margaret Johnson keep running GS&P

The leadership team stays in place. Jeff Goodby remains co-chairman. Sarah Thompson is chief executive and Margaret Johnson chief creative officer. Christine Chen is chief strategy officer and Brian McPherson managing director. Other long-serving leaders are also leaving big agency groups. Jon Cook will leave WPP in March 2027, and at Omnicom Andrew Robertson took over from the retiring Troy Ruhanen.

Silverstein keeps his current role until 31 December. From 1 January he will hold the emeritus title. Anyone who wants his view on an idea after that can call GPT Rich.