- Before going into the movies, he was responsible for many memorable advertising campaigns. Most memorable was the Alka-Seltzer "Spicy Meatball" commercial in which an actor must work through repeated takes for a tomato sauce.
- Howard Zieff's early ad campaigns were noted for their innovative casting. Breaking from the stereotypical blond-haired, blue-eyed, old Hollywood ideal of perfection, he cast young unknowns with decidedly ethnic, un-Hollywood features, including Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Richard Dreyfuss.
- Was originally set to direct Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986) but the job was eventually given to Penny Marshall.
- Was original choice to direct Punchline (1988) when it was written in the end of 1970s.
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