Closing the Gap: Professionals of Color in Advertising

1960s

"...I'm still young, and many people have a cautious attitude towards young people… I'm a woman and I had to prove that I could handle the job as well as a man." And as a negro, "you have to be better than average. And we should be able to have the luxury of being mediocre."

Johnnie Norman, Diener & Dorskind, Inc. (1968)[1]

Douglass Alligood 16_Negroes Are Gaining in Account Jobs

"Negroes Are Gaining in Acount Jobs" [11]

With societal desegregation and an increased interest in "special markets" and black consumers, there was some progress made for Africans Americans working the advertising industry. Companies hired more African Americans, but moreso for marketing objectives and advertiser concerns than social responsibility. Thus African Americans hired for professional positions often found themselves assigned to "special markets" and catering to black consumers, as they did 10 years earlier.[2] 

Despite the increase in the amount of people of color working in the advertising industry, the minority gap in the advertising industry was still very apparent.

  • Hearings held by the New York City Commission on Human Rights found that in 1968, despite making up 28% of New York City’s population, black and Puerto Rican people only made up 5.1% of the 40 agencies surveyed. Furthermore, a majority of this small percentage had lower leveled positions.[3]
  • In 1963, J. Walter Thompson Co. had 0.6% black or Puerto Rican employees, which grew to 12% in 1968.[4]
  • In 1968, La Roche, McCaffrey, & McCall only had 13 black or Puerto Rican employees out of 235, or 5.5%.[5]

Agencies felt hesitant about hiring people of color. There were still engrained suspicions about Puerto Ricans, Indian, Chinese, and black Americans. Additionally, white people commonly felt that it was difficult to find minorities with the diversity of business background and education needed for the job.[3] Douglass Alligood, BBDO-New York Account executive at the time, expressed frustration with this mentality in 1968 when he stated:

“One response to the problem that really aggravates me is: ‘We would hire more Negroes and Puerto Ricans if we could find any who were qualified.’ What does ‘qualified’ mean? How ‘qualified’ can you be when you are fresh out of college? No matter what academic honors a student has received, he still has to be trained when he starts a new job – in any field, anywhere.” [6]

Douglass Alligood 17_Careers in Advertising Available

Alligood expresses the potential for careers in advertising among minority group members [12]

The reality was that despite there being capable young people of color attending college in the United States at the time, they had to build up a lot of experience before getting a job anywhere, which made those who had progressed in the industry typically older than their white counterparts. Moreover, there was a lack of awareness of the opportunities that the advertising industry could offer. People of color did not often imagine that they could have a career in advertising and thus did not include it in their vocational planning.[5][7][3]

To complicate things further, in order to get a decent job within general market advertising agencies, referrals were needed. However, minorities did not have the connections and ties that their white counterparts had. [5]

JWT Training Program 1

An explanation of the JWT Training Program [8]

JWT Training Program 2

Some members of the JWT Training Program and their descriptions [8]

JWT Training Program 4

A correspondence showing a newspaper article written about the program [8]

JWT Training Program 5

A sample schedule of the program [8]

Over this decade, there were of efforts made to combat this gap. There were government programs, in-agency training, personal recruiting, work with minority consultants, HBCU recruitment programs, and summer programs. One of these efforts was the J. Walter Thompson Company Training Program. The program was designed to train black and Puerto Rican youth from lower income areas for meaningful and challenging positions within the advertising industry. Through this program, the goal was for participants to become contributing members of society, become better communicators who could help close the minority gap, and pave the way for those who follow them. John Bellini, director of this program, expressed his hopes for the participants in his statement[4][8]:

"I hoped that each man would gain a sense of self-identity, know where he came from and what he could accomplish. I wanted JWT to know that Blacks and Puerto Ricans were here to contribute. I know they have done much for the agency as the agency has done for them."

In addition to these efforts, members from a variety of organizations founded during this time period spoke out on the topic. The Group for Advertising Progress, or GAP, was founded by Douglass Alligood, a BBDO account executive at the time, with the purpose of advancing minority-group persons in the field of advertising, radio, TV and communications arts. GAP encouraged minorities to apply to advertising jobs and worked to nurture a climate of receptivity within agencies.[6][3]

Douglass Alligood 9_Caroline Jones (1)

Panelists at the Four A's 1968 Eastern Conference during the Equal Employment in Advertising session [4]

Douglass Alligood 18_Four A's Conference

Caroline Jones, Harry Webber, and Bernard Baskett express frustrations with how minorities are treated in the advertising industry [4]

Once working in the industry, African Americans faced more obstacles. Black professionals voiced their concerns at the American Association of Advertising Agencies’ 1968 Eastern Conference in 1968.[9] The panelists included Douglass Alligood, Bernard Baskett, senior media buyer at Grey Advertising, Arthur Hayward, media time buyer at Ted Bates & Co., Edgar W. Hopper Jr., corporate marketing committee member at Ziff-Davis Publishing Co., Caroline Jones, copywriter at JWT, and Harry Webber, assistant art director at Young & Rubicam.

Along with the minority gap and other obstacles mentioned above, they addressed the underpayment of and lack of mobility for black professionals in the industry. Promotions were hard to come by and they were constantly told to wait. Moreover, they felt restricted in a creative and individualistic sense.

“We have to become black Anglo-Saxons to make it. If you let your hair grow out, you’re Rap Brown. Speak out and you’re coming too strong. Whatever we do is related to the social climate of the moment. We’re kind of house n*ggers. Until we soften these attitudes, we will be prevented from making a real contribution… The black man is still in a white world representing white agencies to a white client.”

Edgar Hopper

“The black man is still in a white world representing white agencies to a white client.”

Douglass Alligood

Alligood had several proposals that he urged agencies to follow to remedy this issue. He recommended recruitment programs to attract nonwhite talent into the advertising industry as well as some form of quota system. He felt that the problem of mobility and career advancement would be solved once more non-whites entered the advertising industry.[4][10]

  1. Sloane, Leonard. “Advertising: Johnnie Clears 3 Big Hurdles.” The New York Times: 7 Aug. 1968. Douglass L. Alligood Papers, 1963-2013 and Undated. Box 1. Clippings 1966-1969. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
  2. Davis, Judy Foster. Pioneering African-American Women in the Advertising Business : Biographies of Mad Black Women. New York, NY: Routledge, 2017. 42-43. Print. 
  3. Alligood, Douglass L. "Closing the gap in minority careers in TV-radio, advertising." MondayMemo: 9 Dec. 1968. Douglass L. Alligood Papers, 1963-2013 and Undated. Box 1. Clippings 1966-1969. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. 
  4. "Four A's Studies 'Minority Gap' in Employment." Advertising Age: 28 Oct. 1968. Douglass L. Alligood Papers, 1963-2013 and Undated. Box 1. Clippings 1966-1969. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
  5. Dougherty, Philip H. "Advertising: Telling It Like They Find It." The New York Times: 23 October 1968. Douglass L. Alligood Papers, 1963-2013 and Undated. Box 1. Clippings 1966-1969. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. 
  6. "Doug Alligood Voices Aims of GAP Association of Negroes in Advertising." BBDO Newsletter: Jun.-Jul. 1968. Douglass L. Alligood Papers, 1963-2013 and Undated. Box 1. Clippings 1966-1969. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. 
  7. "Advertising field has many job openings, says official." The Afro-American: 21 Dec. 1968. Douglass L. Alligood Papers, 1963-2013 and Undated. Box 1. Clippings 1966-1969. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
  8. Wilson, Ted. Ted Wilson Papers, 1966-1967. Box 3. Jobs Training Program June 1969-May 1970. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
  9. "How It is Now In The Advertising Field" N.Y. Amsterdam News: 9 Nov. 1968. Douglass L. Alligood Papers, 1963-2013 and Undated. Box 1. Clippings 1966-1969. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
  10. Gill, John. "Black ad man discusses life in a white agency." The Detroit News: 16 Nov. 1968. Douglass L. Alligood Papers, 1963-2013 and Undated. Box 1. Clippings 1966-1969. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
  11. Dougherty, Philip H. "Negroes Are Gaining in Account Jobs." The New York Times: 22 Jun. 1969. Douglass L. Alligood Papers, 1963-2013 and Undated. Box 1. Clippings 1966-1969. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
  12. "Careers Available in Advertising" Twin Citiies Courier: 12 Apr. 1969. Douglass L. Alligood Papers, 1963-2013 and Undated. Box 1. Clippings 1966-1969. John W. Hartman Center for Sales Advertising & Marketing History. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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