He had majored in English but also studied business administration, philosophy and music, playing the piano.

[3] He left Schenley in 1939 to ghostwrite for Grover Whalen, the head of the 1939 World's Fair and the following year he entered the advertising industry at the William Weintraub agency.

He saw two years' active service in World War II and thereafter had a role at Coty, followed by a position at Grey Advertising.

[6] From its founding Bernbach played an integral role in the writing of advertising, distancing himself from the administrative and promotional aspects of the business which were left to Dane.

It debuted in 1962, when Avis was losing market share to close rival, Hertz and helped the company's financial position turn around from a loss to a profit in a single year.

He also is credited with being the first to combine copywriters and art directors into two-person teams, a model that still exists in advertising agencies today.

He was also named "Top Advertising Agency Executive" in 1969 and received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement[9] in 1976 and was inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame in the same year.

[7] 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.

Bernbach's family was against the marriage on religious grounds, but they lived happily and had two sons: John L.[10] and Paul.