Peter Sealey, head of Columbia Pictures Marketing, has passed away at the age of 83. Before his movie studio days, Sealey was the global chief marketing officer of The Coca-Cola Company, where he produced the famous “Always Coca-Cola” campaign and the iconic polar bear commercials and wrapping symbols.
Sealey worked at The Coca-Cola Company for over twenty years, during which the beverage company purchased Columbia Pictures. After the acquisition, Sealey was promoted to president of global marketing for Columbia Picture Studios and provided marketing expertise to films like “Tootsie,” “Ghostbusters,” “The Karate Kid,” “Stand By Me” and “La Bamba” throughout the 1980s.
Sealey stayed with the company until 1993 when he left to pursue new and diverse career paths as a global speaker, consultant, and expert witness. He went on to advise many other businesses, such as Sony Corporation and the United Parcel Service. Later in life, He became a professor at Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. He also joined the advisory board of Facebook when it had only 12 employees and was viewed as a pioneer in predicting the impact and future of social media. His charitable work is numerous, including endowing the Peter S. Sealey Marketing Professorship at the University of Florida and The Peter S. Sealey annual award at the Global Family Business Institute at Claremont Graduate University. He was also a significant donor to the International Program on Negotiation at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital.
In their honor, Eisenhower Hospital named the Peter and Elizabeth Sealey Specialty Clinics in Palm Springs. Sealey is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Sealey; his daughters, Caran Fisher and Rainey Temkin; his step-daughters, Katharine Rue and Jane Rue-Ionita; his sons-in-law, Mike Fisher, Andrew Temkin, and Sergiu Rue-Ionita; his five grandchildren; and his cherished dogs, Megan and Franky.