15935: The One Club Creative Hall Of Fame Adds Color.

 

AgencySpy posted on The One Club 2022 Creative Hall of Fame inductees, including Cheryl D. Miller, Janet Kestin, Nancy Vonk and Carol H. Williams. Wonder what Neil French would say about the induction of Kestin and Vonk. Meanwhile, Miller and Williams join Tom Burrell as the only Black Creative Hall of Famers—inadvertently spotlighting how The One Club has failed to recognize iconic trailblazers like Georg Olden, Roy Eaton and Caroline Jones. The One Club for Creativity should be renamed The One Club for Exclusivity.

 

The One Club Announces Latest Inductees Into its Creative Hall of Fame

 

By Kyle O’Brien

 

The One Club for Creativity has announced the latest group of advertising, design, marketing and education innovators who will be inducted into the Creative Hall of Fame in October, and it includes a diverse mix of innovators.

 

The non-profit that supports and celebrates the global creative community through efforts including creative boot camps, the One Show and One School, has named eight new inductees to add to the list of creative luminaries in advertising and design, which started with the induction of Leo Burnett in 1961.

 

The latest inductees to join the hall of fame are:

 

• Joe Duffy, branding and design innovator, Founder, Chairman, Duffy & Partners;

 

• John Hunt, co-founder of internationally recognized South African agency TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, global creative chair, TBWA\Worldwide;

 

• Cheryl D. Miller, graphic designer, writer, artist, theologian, and decolonizing historian known for her contributions to racial and gender equality in the graphic design field;

 

• Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin, former co-chief creative officers at Ogilvy Toronto, co-founders of the Swim leadership lab;

 

• Carol H. Williams, president, CEO, chief creative officer and owner, Carol H. Williams Advertising, the longest-running U.S. independent multicultural agency

 

Educators Hall of Fame

 

• Ron and Pippa Seichrist, co-founders, Miami Ad School

 

The black-tie Creative Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which is a fundraising gala to support The One Club’s many global DEI programs, will take place on October 27 at Tisch Skylights at The Shed, Hudson Yards in New York.

 

Inductees are nominated and voted on by The One Club board of directors. Those chosen must have proven their impact, influence and inspiration on the industry.

 

“The Creative Hall of Fame is the ultimate recognition of a storied career of a visionary creative professional,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club in a statement. “More importantly, this newest group of inductees transcend advertising: they influence pop culture, uplift underrepresented groups, and inspire the next generation of creative thinkers and doers.”

 

Additional inductees will be announced soon. Event and ticket details are available [at The One Club website.]

13832: Burrell Breaks Barriers.

Adweek reported Tom Burrell became the one Black in The One Club Creative Hall of Fame. Kudos to Burrell, but surely there are other worthy Blacks—including Georg Olden, Roy Eaton and Harry Webber—who also deserve recognition in the exclusive club.

Tom Burrell Becomes First African-American Inducted Into One Club Creative Hall of Fame

He founded Burrell Communications Group in 1971

By Erik Oster

Burrell Communications Group founder Tom Burrell, who has been breaking barriers his entire career, has added yet another one to the list.

The One Club inducted Burrell into its Creative Hall of Fame, making him the first African-American to receive the honor, which dates back to Leo Burnett’s inaugural induction in 1961. Burrell was inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame back in 2004.

A pioneer in recognizing and celebrating the purchasing power of the African-American community, Burrell coined the phrase “Black people are not dark-skinned white people.” His advertisements for Coca-Cola are archived at the Library of Congress, recognized for their cultural and historical significance.

Tom Burrell began his career in the mailroom at Wade Advertising while still at Roosevelt University. The agency’s first black employee, he soon earned himself a junior copywriting position, working on the agency’s Alka-Seltzer and Robin Hood All-Purpose Flour accounts, according to the Advertising Hall of Fame. He went on to work at several agencies, including Leo Burnett and FCB, before founding Burrell Communications Group in 1971.

He retired in 2004 and currently serves as chairman emeritus for the agency, which is now led by co-CEOs Fay Ferguson and McGhee Williams Osse and CCO Lewis Williams. Burrell Communications Group currently counts McDonald’s, P&G, Comcast, Walmart, Toyota Motor Sales Inc., AARP and Hilton among its client roster.

In addition to his work in advertising, Burrell is the author of Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority and founded nonprofit The Resolution Project to “challenge and reverse ongoing mass media stereotypes and negative race-based conditioning.”

12841: What Labor Day Means.

According to Wikipedia, Labor Day “honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country.” It also leads campaigning politicians to write stuff like the following:

Labor Day is a time for honoring the working people of this country. It is also a time to celebrate the accomplishments of the activists and organizers who fought for the 40-hour work week, occupational safety, minimum wage law, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and affordable housing. These working people, and their unions, resisted the oligarchs of their day, fought for a more responsive democracy, and built the middle class.

Yet what does Labor Day mean to the advertising industry? It might underscore the field’s hypocrisy similar to the way MLK Day does; that is, White advertising agencies are awarded time off despite operating in violation of Dr. King’s dream. With Labor Day, we enjoy a holiday thanks to the accomplishments of people who fought for fairness in the workplace—despite our dismal failures in the area of diversity. Then again, it’s a wonder no one has taken the opportunity to cheer the amazing progress experienced by White women in our ranks.

On Labor Day, advertising industry laborers should salute the people who have legitimately strived to bring change to the field. For the overwhelming majority who can’t even begin to identify the activists, here are a few names for starters:

Roy Eaton

Sanford Moore

Bill Sharp

Lincoln Stephens

Lowell Thompson

Harry Webber

Hadji Williams

Feel free to add more names via comments.

12581: Early Black Mad Men.

From The New York Times…

An Early History of Blacks on Madison Avenue

Q. I was reading about the new “Mad Men” exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image, and I got to wondering: When did blacks manage to break down the barriers on Madison Avenue and become ad executives?

A. By the early 1950s, more than 40 black men were employed in “special markets” for American corporations, according to “Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African Americans in the Advertising Industry,” by Jason Chambers.

Some, like Moss Kendrix of Coca-Cola, helped create advertising approaches to blacks. Sometimes, their work consisted of keeping outright racism out of ads. A pioneer, David J. Sullivan, ran his own consulting firm, Negro Market Organization, on Fifth Avenue in the 1940s, and his dos-and-don’ts articles in the trade press spotlighted offensive marketing.

Mr. Chambers highlighted several black advertising men who struggled to open doors in the 1940s and 1950s. Among them:

Edward Brandford, a Cooper Union graduate and commercial artist, with two partners, Barbara Watson and Mary Louise Yabro, organized the first modeling agency for African-American women in 1946 in Manhattan; he followed it with his own ad agency. Unfortunately, companies eager to hire his models had little interest in his guidance. Most thought that all they had to do to reach black consumers was change the race of the models in their ads.

Like Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Brandford was ahead of his time.

William B. Graham had been a spectacular salesman for Pabst Beer in the early 1940s, making it the No. 1 brand in Harlem. He opened his own agency in 1944 with a fellow Pabst sales representative, Henry Parks Jr., who later became a famous sausage maker.

Clarence Holte was hired as an executive by Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn in the early 1950s, a move that caused considerable attention in the advertising trade press. “What BBDO executives wanted was their own version of Jackie Robinson — specifically, a man who was not only supremely qualified, but who they also believed could withstand any negativity based on his race without responding aggressively,” Mr. Chambers writes.

Mr. Holte drew on his vast collection of books on African and African-American history to create ads that brought attention to black achievements. “Ingenious Americans,” an award-winning series that he developed for Calvert Distillers, noted contributions that were ignored by textbooks at the time, including those of Harriet Tubman, Benjamin Banneker and others.

Another black executive at BBDO, Georg Olden, had been a graphic art director at CBS, helping to shape the look of early television. Joining BBDO in 1960, he was involved in all elements of commercial production. He won several Clio awards, the Oscars of the ad industry, and is said to have been the designer of the Clio statuette.

In his spare time, Mr. Olden drew several cartoons published in The New Yorker. In 1963, he joined the McCann-Erickson agency, and that year he became the first African-American to design a postage stamp, a broken chain commemorating the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation.

In 1955, Young & Rubicam hired Roy Eaton, a Phi Beta Kappa with a master’s degree in music from Yale. Mr. Eaton, who applied to the agency virtually on a whim, talked executives into letting him write tryout ad copy, and then sample jingles.

Charles Feldman, the agency’s creative director, hired him as its first black professional. According to Mr. Chambers, Mr. Feldman told the new employee: “The reason I had you write the jingles is that, though you obviously have creative talent, if you were white you would have been hired immediately, just on the basis of the commercials you wrote. But I want a Jackie Robinson. I want someone who is not only good, but superior!”

While pressure in the late 1960s and the 1970s forced some change, blacks remain underrepresented among ad executives, according to Mr. Chambers, who writes: “Similar to blacks’ experience in other white-collar professions like accounting, evidence shows that the advertising industry has dealt proactively with issues of race only when public pressure forces it to do so.”

12351: Highlighting 14 In 2014.

It wasn’t easy to find 14 highlights in the advertising industry for 2014, but here goes (in no particular order):

1. Artist/Writer/Recovering Adman Lowell Thompson marched on.

2. The Marcus Graham Project Infographic exposed the exclusive state of affairs on Madison Avenue.

3. Pam El was drafted by the NBA as the league’s new CMO.

4. Dawn Hudson was drafted by the NFL as the league’s new CMO.

5. Jerry Seinfeld dissed the advertising industry at the CLIO Awards—unintentionally proving to be prophetic with his ultra-lame Acura campaign featuring a Black guy.

6. The Advertising Standards Council of India created mandates barring spots that portray dark-skinned people negatively.

7. Roy Eaton delivered the best 3.5 minutes you’ll spend all year.

8A and 8B. Issa Rae and Living a Creative Life enlivened Here Are All The Black People.

9. Commonground/MGS was unveiled as a new holding group comprised of eight independent, minority-owned agencies.

10. Ogilvy & Mather South Africa CEO Abey Mokgwatsane examined three macro drivers contributing towards a very vibrant South African ad industry: talent diversity, digital migration and the changing role of South Africa as a gateway to the rest of Africa.

11. MediaCom UK CEO Karen Blackett was named “most influential Black person in Britain” on the Powerlist 2015.

12. David&Goliath President Brian Dunbar declared, “L.A. is a very culturally diverse city and I think the cultural makeup of the agencies reflects that. It certainly does at David&Goliath. I see a lot more diversity here than I have at other agencies in my career and I think that helps make the work more interesting.”

13. Despite a rough year, Steve Stoute and Translation rebounded by winning the NBA shootout.

14. Team Epiphany may be the most diverse enterprise in the advertising industry.

12174: Wondering About Whiteness.

In his recent USA TODAY interview, Silicon Valley Pioneer Ken Coleman wondered, “The real question is, what might I have done or been if I had been White?” Madison Avenue Pioneer Roy Eaton was told at his first interview, “If you were White, I’d hire you immediately.”

Another question to consider: “What if all of Coleman’s and/or Eaton’s White peers had been Black (or held to the standards placed upon Blacks)?” Imagine how some of the Whites might have fared if they had been restricted, scrutinized and judged—and expected to perform at the same ultra-extraordinary levels as Black executives of the times.

Stereotypical gripes surrounding diversity include the concern that hiring minorities would lessen the quality of the overall workforce. This belief is pure bullshit. Eaton, for example, was far more than a jingle writer—he was a renowned, classically trained composer and musician. His mother inspired him with the notion of doing 200% to get credit for 100%. If White candidates had been required to match Eaton’s credentials and qualifications—and consistently deliver 200% for 100% credit—just think of how high the quality of the overall workforce would have risen.

Perhaps the question should simply be, “What might I have done or been if I had not faced institutionalized discrimination and racism from Whites?”

12111: 3.5 Minutes With Roy Eaton.

From Advertising Age…

The Real Mad Men Diaries: Roy Eaton

Hall of Famer Who Broke Color Barrier Doesn’t See Much Progress in Industry Diversity

By Judann Pollack

“If you were white, I’d hire you immediately.”

That’s how Advertising Hall of Famer Roy Eaton recalls his first job interview at Young & Rubicam, where he began his career in 1955. Mr. Eaton, who played at Carnegie Hall as a child, earned a musicology fellowship at Yale and has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, had to fight his way into advertising because he is black.

Following the mantra his mother gave him, “You have do do 200% to get recognition for 100%,” Mr. Eaton went on to create a storied career, moving up to music director at Benton & Bowles. Over the decades, he created memorable ad jingles for products such as Yuban coffee, Beefaroni, Texaco, Honeycomb, Sugar Crisp and more. But it wasn’t easy getting past the color barrier, he recalls in this video, particularly when hiring African-Americans to appear even off camera in commercials.

Mr. Eaton, who today is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and is very active in composing and performing in his 80s, doesn’t see that much progress more than a half-century later. Ad agencies, he said, aren’t hiring more black copywriters or executives; instead they are hiring “a lot of African-American diversity officers.”

(View the video interview)

10394: Tanner Colby—The Great White Dope.

U.S Attorney General Eric Holder called the country “a nation of cowards” on race relations, arguing that “… if we are to make progress in this area, we must feel comfortable enough with one another, and tolerant enough of each other, to have frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us.” In this respect, Tanner Colby could be viewed as courageous for writing Some of My Best Friends are Black. Then again, Confucius said, “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance”—which might explain why Colby fails in stereotypically dramatic fashion.

MultiCultClassics first encountered Colby last March when he published a couple of incoherent columns for Slate that centered on the depiction of race in AMC series Mad Men. The columns begged the questions: Who is this writer—and why is he babbling bullshit with such conviction? Well, it now appears that Colby was fueled by the insights he collected while typing his new book. And this goes to the heart of the problem MultiCultClassics has with Colby and Some of My Best Friends are Black.

For the record, MultiCultClassics did not read Colby’s entire book. However, enough of the text was examined to construct this review. Specifically, the Preface, Part 3 and the Author’s Note were perused. Scanning through anything more would have been too torturous.

During the political campaign and 2008 election of President Barack Obama, Colby suddenly realized that he didn’t know any Black people. Additionally, his close pals had no Black friends either. So Colby decided to write a book on why his life featured zero contact with Blacks. “Sure, I had no idea what I was doing,” the author admitted. “But to be a white person writing a book about race, ignorance was the only qualification I would need.” By Confucius’ standards, Colby was a treasure trove of real knowledge.

To his credit, Colby did a competent job of gathering historical data, and he connected with a number of decent sources for interviews and perspectives. But the author ultimately comes off like an arrogant White man. That is, he seems to believe three years of limited immersion qualifies him to speak on issues with credibility and authority—and that concepts new to him are groundbreaking for the rest of us as well.

Part 3—Why Do Black People Drink Hawaiian Punch?—focuses on Blacks in the advertising industry. The subject matter allegedly has personal interest for Colby, as he labored roughly nine years as a copywriter for various New York agencies. It wasn’t clear if Colby ever handled traditional advertising, as he claimed to have spent much of his time in digital departments or digital shops. And it’s safe to say he never served in minority agencies. The sentences above support the opinion that Colby holds little expertise about Madison Avenue and its Black executives.

To repeat, Colby showed competence in gathering historical data. But nearly every factoid in Part 3 could have been lifted from Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers and/or Advertising Age archives. Plus, Colby’s obsession with tying the trials and tribulations of Blacks on Madison Avenue to the political maneuvers of former President Richard Nixon is confusing and crazy.

Colby spoke at length with Uniworld Founder and CEO Byron Lewis, Advertising Hall of Fame icon Roy Eaton, McCann Executive Creative Director Vann Graves, DOJO Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director Geoff Edwards and Wieden + Kennedy Managing Director Neal Arthur. The admen offered terrific content, but Colby doesn’t understand that five individuals cannot represent all Blacks in advertising. Additionally, besides Lewis, the guys presented very skewed visions—and sharp words—regarding Black agencies. Um, the dearth of diversity on Madison Avenue should not be blamed on minority shops, just as the past inequities of Major League Baseball should not be dumped on the Negro Leagues.

Armed with previously published historical data, a handful of conversations and a fetish for Dick Nixon, Colby proceeded to tell it like it is. Yet the original positions in Some of My Best Friends are Black mirror his Slate columns and Ad Age discussion—that is, it’s a bunch of uninformed, incomprehensible pap. The author exhibits the classic symptoms of White Privilege as documented in Corporate Tribalism by Thomas Kochman and Jean Mavrelis. Colby is still only a few clues beyond cultural cluelessness.

Yeah, the man deserves to be commended for trying to gain enlightenment. Indeed, if the typical Madison Avenue executive copied Colby, the industry would be significantly closer to legitimate progress. And it would be awesome if Colby continues his quest for cultural competence and becomes a bona fide crusader for the cause—or minimally is able to honestly declare the title of his book applies to his life.

For now, Tanner Colby is The Great White Dope.

9938: C’MON WHITE MAN! Episode 19.

(MultiCultClassics credits ESPN’s C’MON MAN! for sparking this semi-regular blog series.)

Oops. MultiCultClassics was wrong to wonder why AMC series Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner tagged Y&R as racist. Turns out Weiner was historically accurate after all. Should have known better than to defend a White advertising agency. Consider the following an attempt to make amends.

Referring to the 1966 incident, Y&R Global CEO David Sable remarked, “Part of that story is sad but true—a few idiots dropped water balloons on protesters some 50 years ago. What I don’t know was whether or not they were fired. I certainly hope they were. Needless to say, their behavior was completely repulsive and not in line with the values of our company.”

Sable doesn’t know whether or not the culprits were fired? Please. If they had been axed, it would have been news—and the agency records would have noted the action. It’s a safe bet the morons were promoted.

As for the behavior being “completely repulsive and not in line with the values of our company,” consider the fact that advertising icon and Y&R alum Roy Eaton once declared, “I was the ‘Jackie Robinson’ of general market creatives. Starting at Y&R in 1955. I am appalled at the lack of progress that has been made till now. I have a presentation that I gave at DraftFCB and will be giving at my alma mater Y&R that addresses the action that must be taken on both sides of this equation. To continue the lie that ‘there just isn’t enough Black talent out there’ is a cover-up for an American malady that must be addressed.”

Remember too that Y&R essentially blackballed Harry Webber for having the audacity to expose Madison Avenue’s dirty little secret in 1969.

Most outrageous is Sable’s eagerness to brag about his agency’s creation of the classic UNCF campaign, “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste.”

Sorry, Mr. Sable, but the water balloon scenario is hardly a first offense for Y&R. Your agency has essentially been turning the fire hoses on Blacks forever.

C’MON WHITE MAN!

9411: Blog Action Day 2011—Food & Mad Ave.

Blog Action Day 2011 focuses on Food.

Madison Avenue has a storied history of using Blacks to sell food. Aunt Jemima, Rastus and Uncle Ben continue to hawk products, joined by contemporary icons like Annie the Chicken Queen, Honey Bunches of Oats Lady and the KFC Dancing Guy.

Of course, Black celebrities have also pitched for Madison Avenue, including Michael Jackson, MC Hammer and Beyoncé for Pepsi; Michael Jordan for Gatorade, Mickey D’s, Wheaties, Coca-Cola and Ball Park Franks; Mr. T, Patrick Ewing and Aretha Franklin for Snickers; Billy Dee Williams for Colt 45; and countless hip-hop artists, recording stars, sports figures, actors, media personalities and more. Hell, even a Black ex-homeless guy received a piece of the action. Indeed, few food corporations have not employed Blacks to promote brands.

Yet when Blacks seek to sell food with Madison Avenue—serving as advertising executives—suddenly there ain’t enough room at the table. Despite individuals such as Roy Eaton (developing Sugar Bear for Post Sugar Crisp), Jim Glover (launching McDonald’s breakfast business) and Caroline R. Jones (writing “We Do Chicken Right” for KFC), who have created unprecedented breakthroughs in the business, Blacks remain virtually invisible at the senior levels and woefully underrepresented overall. Additionally, Black adpeople separated via Shifty Segregation® or multicultural marketing are forced to eat crumbs, watching White agencies feast on the bulk of the marketing budgets. The food clients, meanwhile, remain silent witnesses to the inequities—and have the audacity to run messages declaring commitments to diversity within their own hallways.

It’s enough to make you sick to your stomach.

9376: Where Are All The Roy Eatons?

Worth watching on the “Where Are All The Black People?” video is the presentation by Roy Eaton. On a stage with Jeff Goodby, Jimmy Smith and Neal Arthur, Eaton was clearly the superstar of the group.

8577: Y&R & UNCF Celebrate 40 Years Of Irony.

The Big Tent featured a column by Y&R Global CEO David Sable, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the iconic UNCF “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste” campaign. Sable’s gushing included this quote:

“A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste” has become emblematic of some of the best values of America—a belief in equal opportunity, in education, in human dignity and hope. And some of the best values in advertising, too: the timelessness of great emotional creative that’s rooted in insight, in emotion, in a great story that has the power to create a legacy.

OK, the campaign has accomplished great results and stands the test of time. Yet there is tremendous irony in the fact that at least two Black executives who served at Y&R—Harry Webber and Roy Eaton—have been quite vocal about the advertising industry’s dearth of diversity for over 40 years. And Webber actually worked on the UNCF campaign!

The way that Madison Avenue can create messages like “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste” while showing complete cluelessness on cleaning up their own side of the avenue is enough to drive a person mad. Or as former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle said, “What a waste it is to lose one’s mind.”

8535: Roy Eaton Made Sugar Bear Black.

Comedian Tommy Davidson once did a stand-up bit where he insisted Sugar Bear was Black. Turns out Davidson was right. Advertising legend Roy Eaton created much of the early work for Post Sugar Crisp. See more on Eaton here.

On a semi-related note, it’s now in vogue to expect Black advertising executives to inspire minority youth. Eaton, however, manages to inspire White kids too.

8524: Roy Eaton Gives 200%.

A comment left at an earlier post warrants its own space. Here it is:

I was the “Jackie Robinson” of general market creatives. Starting at Y&R in 1955. I am appalled at the lack of progress that has been made till now. I have a presentation that I gave at DraftFCB and will be giving at my alma mater Y&R that addresses the action that must be taken on both sides of this equation. To continue the lie that “there just isn’t enough Black talent out there” is a cover-up for an American malady that must be addressed. I am open to presenting my solution to any Agency willing to hear the “TRUTH ABOUT THE ADVERTISING INDUSTRY” and how to make meaningful progress. You can check my background in the Advertising Hall of Fame or on the YouTube piece http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3LiZwygNL4

Love,
Roy Eaton
212 832 9884