In honor of Black History month this month, every Friday we will be posting a new blog on black history within the advertising industry. Our first blog will highlight Vince Cullers. In 1956, he founded Vince Culler Advertising, Inc. after graduating from Art Institute of Chicago and tirelessly trying to land a job at multiple agencies. This was at the height of the Civil Rights movement and it was the first black-owned advertising agency. It would change history through his two goals: open up advertising to African-Americans and change the way African-Americans were targeted in advertising. His vision innovated ads that spoke to the black community through messaging that would resonate with them. Since no other black owned agencies existed at the time, he became a mentor in the advertising space, where he inspired other agencies to form and trained employees in the ad space. He made bold advertisements that catered to the black community and eventually his business grew so large it made it on the Forbes list in 1990. He would go down in the advertising hall of fame as a trailblazer in the field after his passing in 2003.
