17349: BHM 2026—Pru.

 

For Black History Month, did Pru in Chicago use Shutterstock or other royalty-free image sources?

17345: BHM 2026—Griffin Museum Of Science + Industry.

 

Griffin Museum Of Science + Industry in Chicago presents its annual Black Creativity.

 

Per the hype, “This ongoing program celebrates the history of Black innovation while championing opportunities for today’s youth to explore STE(A)M in service of a more equitable future rooted in community, creativity and discovery.”

17002: Awarding Patronizing, Performative Prizes.

 

Chicago Advertising Federation celebrates Women’s History Month by spotlighting women serving as judges for its annual trophy show. Now that’s award-winning performative PR.

16941: BHM 2025—Griffin Museum Of Science + Industry.

 

The Griffin Museum of Science + Industry presents Black Creativity 2025—a program now in its 55th year—including Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition, Black Creativity Gala, and Black Creativity Night Out.

 

16901: I See Dead Players.

 

Hyping the Chicago Bulls—currently 13-18 and 14.5 GB—with this “See Red” brand platform creates an unintentionally appropriate fan response.

16734: Wild Wild West Side…?

 

Habilitative Systems, Inc presents “How Wellness Is Won” with odd cowboy imagery. Maybe the company is acknowledging—especially for people of color—the healthcare system feels like the Wild West.

16700: Replaying Lowell Thompson On His Channels Changers Documentary.

 

In January 2023, Print Magazine interviewed Lowell Thompson, spotlighting his Channels Changers documentary on Chicago’s Black advertising executives.

 

The Daily Heller: Lowell Thompson’s Documentary on Chicago’s Black Ad Men and Women

 

By Steven Heller

 

Channels Changers is a documentary that chronicles African Americans who made a significant impact on Chicago’s advertising industry, as the film’s co-creator, Lowell Thompson, says. Advertising was, as he points out in this interview and the film clip below, an entry point for creative practitioners, many of whom learned “on the street” and produced iconic commercials and campaigns for national and local brands. This is an important missing link in the history of American advertising (and myth-making).

 

Thompson started his creative career at Foote, Cone & Belding, Chicago, in 1968, as an art director trainee, a few months after Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered in Memphis. He spent the next 50+ years creating advertising, art, books and more.

 

Channels Changers is almost finished, but needs GoFundMe support to complete post-production. Here, Thompson tells us more about the project.

 

Is Channels Changers the first film to cover this subject matter?

 

I think so. I actually planned it as a book, but then I met Cotton Stevenson on Facebook. He’s a “white” retired adman who worked in some of the same agencies I did in Chicago about 10 years after I’d been there, so we’d never met. He retired, moved to San Jose, went back to school and earned a master’s degree in documentary filmmaking. He’d been watching my … er … exploits on Facebook, and when I put up some things about my memoirs, Mad Invisible Man, he called and suggested we make it a film.

 

Why has this been such a well-kept secret?

 

Vance Packard called ad folks “the hidden persuaders.” AfAm ad folks are the most hidden hidden persuaders. We’re even hidden from other hidden persuaders … unless they happened to bump into us in one of the few agencies that hired us. But to actually answer your question, I think although ads and commercials are rampant, the ad industry as a subject is inherently secret. It’s kinda like what they say about making sausage. People just want to eat the sausage, not watch it being made. Ads are even worse. People don’t go out of their way to “eat” ads. They only like some of them, at best. They don’t want to think about them, period!

 

About 10 years ago, Art & Copy, a documentary about some of the top ad creative people, came out. I think it was very good, but I don’t think many people saw it. The only movie I know of that was ever made about this subject was Putney Swope. It was a feature film satire directed by Robert Downey Sr. [about a white-run ad agency that by mistake elects a Black president]. I suspect part of the reasons no one has done what we’re doing is that in New York, African Americans in advertising were even more invisible than Ellison’s Invisible Man. Although AfAm Chicagoans have historically been lesser in numbers than in New York, we have almost always been a bigger portion of the whole population. That fact gave us more political, economic and cultural clout in our city.

 

I want to make sure we make this point in Channels Changers. The Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s was made famous because it happened in the city where American media was based. But the real renaissance had already been happening in music since Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver and then Louis Armstrong came up from New Orleans and made the roaring ’20s roar in Al Capone’s Jazz joints on the South Side of Chicago.

 

The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters? Born on Chicago’s South Side in the mid-’20s. Abe Saperstein dubbed what was then the Savoy Big Five (Wendell Phillips High School students who played out of the Savoy Ballroom), “The Harlem Globetrotters.” Why? Because New York white elites and media people were going up to Harlem to slum and had made Harlem synonymous with “Black America.”

 

What is it about Chicago that provided opportunities that did not seem available on Madison Avenue?

 

Even though the Black population has dropped precipitously in Chicago (it was about 40% when Harold Washington was elected mayor in 1983) in the last decade, we still make up a little under 30%. New York’s Black population gradually moved up to 25%. I think Black Chicago also had a more cohesive culture because they came overwhelmingly from Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama. Many more in New York weren’t even born in the USA, being from the Caribbean, Haiti, Cuba, South America and many countries in Africa. That’s why the most powerful Black media names came out of Chicago: Ida B. Wells, The Chicago Defender, Johnson Publishing (which published Ebony and Jet). We’ll show how that media savvy and success led to the first successful Black-owned ad agencies.

 

Was there a ghettoization of Black creative directors in the industry? Did your colleagues mostly work on products aimed at Black people?

 

Oh, that’s an easy one. No. I didn’t work at a Black-owned agency or on a “Blacks-only” account until my last days working full time. I ended my full-time career at Burrell, as VP, associate creative director. Tom Burrell was the only person in the creative department above me. Before that I’d worked at Foote, Cone & Belding, McCann-Erickson, Young & Rubicam, Needham, Harper & Steers, J. Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett, never on Black accounts.

 

Your film also brings to light talented Black women.

 

Yes. I started in the business about the same time as Carol Williams, who now owns what she says is the largest independent-owned Black ad agency in the world. But there was also Barbara Proctor, who started her own agency in the early ’70s. And there were a good number of AfAm writers and some art directors like Alma Hopkins, Emma Young and others I worked with. But in New York there was Caroline Jones, who started as a secretary at a big white agency and went on to found more than one agency. The reason is the same as AfAm men.

 

Where did the creative workforce come from? Did it have anything to do with Chicago’s music heritage?

 

In my case it just came in off the street. The music heritage had more influence as suppliers, not workers in the agencies, although Barbara Proctor did work in the music business as a promoter and PR person before she got into advertising. She is said to have helped bring the Beatles to the U.S. when she worked at an AfAm-owned record company, VeeJay.

 

Did you learn to be an ad man in school or by working?

 

I tell folks I went to kindergarten at FCB and got my Ph.D. from JWT. I didn’t have a clue about advertising until I was smack-dab in the middle of it. That’s why I attribute my career to Dr. M.L. King and the Civil Rights Movement. But I would guess that most creative people of any color in the business in my day never planned to create ads and commercials for a living. They seemed to be would-be journalists, novelists, artists, actors, etc.

 

There are some iconic ads that sprang from Chicago. Was there much cross-pollination between there and New York?

 

Man, am I glad you asked that question. One of the people I’ve been trying to catch up with to interview for Channels Changers is Joey Randall. He’s a native New Yorker who came to Chi-Town in the mid ’70s, I think. He told me he actually came to Chicago because he had an idea for a Coke commercial that featured a bunch of guys doo-wopping. It became the iconic “StreetSong” spot for Coke the put Burrell on the TV advertising map. James Glover had worked at Y&R New York before he came to Needham, Harper & Steers and did the “Morning Glory” spot for McDonald’s breakfast. Harry “the legend” Webber came to Chicago for a few minutes. I ended up taking his office at Leo Burnett. Shirley Riley, who did a series of Clio award-winning spots for AT&T, came to Chicago but did not have a good time.

 

How far along are you with the film? Are they other “heroes” of the industry yet to be documented?

 

We actually have almost all of the interviews done. Cotton is about to get on a plane to Florida this weekend to go to interview Tom Burrell and Ray Lyle (who was an art director/producer on the Uncola campaign). We’re planning to start editing next month. There are plenty of heroes and sheroes, and not just in Chicago. Byron Lewis, who started UniWorld, is still kickin’. There are some folks on the West Coast who have done some great stuff.

 

Graphic design was long a second cousin to advertising. Was it that way in Chicago?

 

Yes, as far as I know, graphic designers lived on a whole other planet. It takes a strange mentality to be an ad person, and graphic designers generally don’t make great ad folks. Neither do novelists or journalists.

 

What do you want the audience to take away from this film that has been lost and now found?

 

Ha! That the whole multicolored mix of media, advertising and entertainment we live with today started—more than any other place on the planet—in Chicago.

16699: The Latest On Lowell Thompson.

 

Reel Chicago spotlighted a screening of Channels Changers, a documentary on Chicago’s Black advertising executives created by Lowell Thompson, Alaric Martin, and others. Thompson is an original crusader in the battle for diversity in Adland, steadfastly fighting to change the channels of systemic racism in the industry and beyond.

 

Check out the Reel Chicago content, which includes lots of photos of VIP attendees.

 

The Black ad community celebrates the premiere of Channels Changers

 

By Barbara Roche

 

Members of the advertising community gathered at the Gene Siskel Center on Monday evening to honor the veterans and icons of Chicago’s Black ad agencies, whose legacies are now documented in the heartfelt film Channels Changers.

 

Produced by Gypsy Chicago Productions, Channels Changers introduces viewers to the largely unseen world of African American ad professionals of the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

 

The film highlights the pioneering Black advertising executives in Chicago’s top agencies, who significantly transformed the landscape of advertising and media during that era and beyond.

 

Lowell Thompson, an expert on the subject who introduces the film, collaborated with fellow veteran adman, Cotton Stevenson, to create a documentary about this remarkable period and the Black ad trailblazers. Producer, Laurel Dobose brought in Editor, Alaric C. Martin, who throughout the evening was referred to as the Mastermind behind the film. Alaric had the enormous task of sifting through hours of footage to painstakingly create the template in which the story unfolds. Truly a labor of love by all involved.

 

Channels Changers illustrates how the Civil Rights movement and the riots following Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination prompted corporate America to finally open its doors to Black people.

 

Gypsy Chicago Productions interviewed over 20 Black ad professionals from that period, including industry giants Tom Burrell and Carol H. Williams, who went on to establish nationally renowned agencies. The stories of these trailblazers reveal the significant challenges they faced as they entered the predominantly white advertising world. The film also features a number of ads, commercials, and campaigns that many may not have realized were created by African Americans.

 

Stevenson assembled a team of top-level filmmakers, many of whom were old friends from his days as a Chicago creative executive. The film’s initial funding came from the Field Foundation of Chicago and Chicago ad agencies FCB, Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, and DDB, with additional financial support from a GoFundMe campaign.

 

A reception followed the screening, where old friends exchanged hugs, laughs, and memories… lots of memories. It was much like a family reunion. There were no strangers in the room. Everyone’s paths had crossed at some time during their career.

 

The documentary was created as an educational film. At this time it is not likely that it will be seen on the streaming services. For further information about Channels Changers, please contact Terry Peigh, Executive Producer (tpeigh@me.com).

 

Film Credits:

 

• Executive Producers: Cotton Stevenson, Lowell Thompson, Terry Peigh

 

• Producer: Laurel Dobose

 

• Writers: Lowell Thompson, Alaric C. Martin

 

• Consulting Producer: Alaric C. Martin

 

• Director/ Director of Photography: Bill Youmans

 

• Editor/Motion Graphics: Alaric C. Martin

 

• Sound Design & Mix: Sidney Jones, Jr. BAM Studios Chicago

 

• Colorist: Pete Jannotta, Color By Pete

 

• Trailer Colorist: Bob Sliga

 

• Title Design Animation/ Webmaster: Dani Dudovick, Double Dog Productions

 

• Videographers: Dennis Thompson Joe Brooks Cal Evans

 

• Location Sound: Dustin Berta, Case Chamberlain, Daniel Hernandez

 

• Main Title Music: Darryl Duncan, GameBeat Studios

 

• Hair and Makeup: Marcus Geeter

 

• Wheel Man: Michael J. Manhoff

 

• Legal: Ellen Duff Ratcliffe, Duff & Peel

 

• Transportation Coordinator: Maura Donahue

 

• Special Project Consultant: Bill Izzo

16531: BHM 2023—The Second City.

It’s no joke—The Second City Improv and Comedy Club presents the 2024 Black Excellence Revue, Black By Popular Demand. 

 

16529: BHM 2024—MS+I Chicago.

 

The Museum of Science + Industry in Chicago is extending BHM 2024 for a few months, holding its annual Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition now through April 21, 2024.

16379: Look, Up In The Sky—It’s Howard Draft!

 

Although Draft was officially erased from the FCB masthead back in 2014, Chicago still has an Honorary Howard Draft Way—which is in front of the old Draft headquarters (pre-DraftFCB) and blocks away from the current FCB Chicago office.

 

Meanwhile, the former DraftFCB CEO retired in 2014—yet is currently listed as the Co-Founder & CEO of Vysical, an enterprise whose mission and vision are as bizarre as the website team portraits, which look like comic book illustrations. Delusions of super-heroic grandeur?

 

10622: BHM 2023—Museum of Science + Industry.

The longest-running exhibition of African American art has been displayed at Museum of Science + Industry Chicago since 1970. See the latest here.

15811: FYI BK WTF SMH.

 

Reel Chicago reported Burger King named White advertising agency OKRP as its creative shop—as well as PHD as media agency—inspiring lots of acronym wordplay. Not so OK, the ECD hired by David in March to run the BK account. GL + G2G TTYL…

 

OKRP Becomes BKRP

 

By Colin Costello

 

Chicago is not a McDonald’s town anymore. It hasn’t been for a while since the golden arches moved their main account to Wieden + Kennedy, New York. But all of that has changed as there is a new King in town. Today, Restaurant Brands International named our friends at OKRP as its creative AOR for Burger King.

 

Omnicom Group’s PHD was named media agency for the fast-food giant and its RBI portfolio brands including Popeyes U.S. & Canada and Tim Hortons U.S.

 

Both strategic business partners will help in the next stage of growth to achieve world-class relevance with today’s guests and to serve as true extensions of the internal marketing teams.

 

OKRP joins Burger King U.S. with intentions to help reintroduce the iconic brand — through campaigns and messaging that uniquely reflect its modern and relevant identity.

 

According to a statement from RBI OKRP was chosen because, “the agency brings an incredible depth of restaurant experience, through proven leadership in creating best-in-class category and advertising strategy, food differentiation, and creative excellence that increases brand love. Their leadership strength and culture align with the path Burger King is focused on in becoming guest-obsessed, driving relevancy and authenticity in culture, achieving business objectives and reclaiming Burger King’s status as an iconic brand.“

 

“The team is working to evolve and build on the iconic Burger King brand by optimizing media firepower and modernizing the ‘Home of the Whopper’,” said Tom Curtis, President of Burger King North America. “To further our effective messaging strategy, we are locking arms with veterans of this industry who heard us loud and clear when we asked for strategic business partners equipped with the speed, data, insights, creativity and innovation to help us drive growth.”

 

RBI partnered with growth consultancy ID Comms through the agency RFP process. For Burger King U.S., the review came after eight years with DAVID and Horizon, who served as incredible partners on the business during their time.

 

Horizon will continue to serve as the partner for Burger King Canada. PHD replaces Horizon on the PLK side, following a five-year relationship. Popeyes will retain GUT as its creative agency of record.

 

For Tim Hortons U.S., PHD will also take over duties from Horizon, who had been working with the brand in the U.S. since 2016. Tim Hortons Canada retains some of the strongest agency partners in Canada — with GUT serving as the brand’s creative agency of record, Horizon for traditional media and Media Monks for digital media — all driving strong in-market exposure and presence for Tims in the country.

 

According to AdAge, who broke the story, finalists for the creative account included 360i, Fig, and incumbent David, who did award-winning work for the brand. Some of the work included the Cannes-winning Moldy Whopper.

 

Ad Age also says BK lost its number two status to Wendy’s in 2020.

 

Congrats to the OKRP team. Sorry, BKRP.