Madison Avenue and the Color Line: Follow the Money

In his book Madison Avenue and the Color Line Chambers recounts how the advertising industry in the United States matured and professionalized between the two World Wars while continuously excluding AfricanAmericans from the creative process and depicting them in stereotypical ways if at all Then in the early 196039s civil rights groups got involved They understood that America39s largest advertisers had the most leverage over advertising39s business practices and so began pressuring major corporations into joining them as allies for reform They followed the model of a group of 400 Black ministers in Philadelphia who in 1961 successfully organized their 250000 congregants to enact a yearlong quotselective patronagequot campaign to reward businesses that hired Blacks for whitecollar jobs and punish those who didn39tThen in 1963 the Urban League of Greater New York picked up the torch by releasing a study of the city39s ten largest advertising agencies that found out of 20000 total employees only 25 Blacks worked in creative or executive roles and of those over a third were limited to the quotNegro marketquot The League objected to this form of quotsegregated integrationquot and demanded in addition to hiring more Black leaders that agencies also allow them to work on white campaigns That same year as reported by Ad Age Lever Brothers met with the League quotqueried its agencies about the minority employment records of suppliers used in all phases of advertisingquot and thus chose to quoteffect change by deploying its massive advertising budgetquotIn other words as Chambers pictured right put it at GTB quotin the midtwentieth century we have AfricanAmerican activists utilizing Black consumer power to push agencies and their clients particularly their clients for changequot which in turn would help usher in a quotGolden Agequot of Black creativity and agency ownership that lasted up until the 197039s recessionSo what about today According to Diego Scotti chief marketing officer at Verizon all CMOs have more than enough economic leverage quotto ask their agencies to see their diversity numbers and hold them accountablequot For instance Scotti told Ad Age that he sent a letter to his brand39s agencies in 2016 and has since gotten quarterly updates on the number of women and people of color in leadership roles And by endorsing the Association of National Advertisers ANA Commitment to Equality Inclusion and Systemic Change other large advertisers like PampampG Google and GM are now following Scotti39s lead by declaring their longterm intent to do quoteverything in our individual and collective power to end systemic racismquot including using their quotresources and voices as a force for goodquot to help ensure quotan equitable creative supply chainquotBut if all these big brandsadvertisersclients really want to put their money where their mouth is they should start exercising some quotselective patronagequot of their own by using their financial clout to reward agencies and suppliers that hire retain and promote Blacks and punish those who don39t In his concluding remarks at GTB Chambers brought this point home by quoting from Dr Martin Luther King39s famous quotI39ve Been to the Mountaintopquot address delivered the night before his assassination In that speech King takes aim at the oppressor39s wallet by imploring his followers to quotalways anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawalquot since mobilizing their collective incomes could be a powerful force quotif we know how to pool itquotIn that spirit King called for boycotts of CocaCola and other brands that didn39t hire Blacks He told his audience to transfer their money from white banks to Blackowned banks from white insurance companies to Blackowned insurance companies These were quotpractical thingsquot he said that quoteveryone could doquot to strengthen the economic base of Black institutions while at the same time quotputting pressure where it really hurtsquotAll of which begs the question if Procter ampamp Gamble says they are quotstepping forward as a good corporate citizenquot are they really willing to walk the walk In other words do corporations have the courage to follow their own money and do the kind of quotpractical thingsquot necessary to change their supply chains and agency teams to better reflect the Black consumers that buy their productsClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Madison Avenue and the Color Line: Follow the Money

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Christopher Boulton

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