This was a really great interesting book! Its well written and well-researched . I had never heard of Tom Burrell before reading this but I now have loads of respect for him. I would recommend this! Special Thank You to University of Illinois Press, Jason P. Chambers and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Advertising is evolving at a rapid pace with a plethora of new placements, ad sizes and platforms launching daily. These advancements have allowed us to reach very specific audience segments with our messaging, particularly on digital, but hasn’t told us how to speak to them effectively. Thankfully, we can learn from the past to better understand the present.

Tom Burrell, an advertising pioneer, was instrumental in subverting racist depictions of Black people in media – such as tropes of grinning Black caricatures – by focusing on a positive storytelling using a “slice-of-life” approach. His work for brands, such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, redirected how we approach advertising to Black audiences that are still foundational even 50 years later. In a new biography about his Burrell’s life “Advertising Revolutionary: The Life and Work of Tom Burrell” by Jason P. Chambers uncovers three foundational practices that should be core to any campaign reaching Black audiences to this day:

A Clear Values Proposition: A campaign can be defined by many ways – its media, its market or call-to-action, but regardless of the kind of campaign, a clear organic values statement is needed to teether the campaign to. For Burrell, every campaign he designed was led by the values proposition of “positive realism,” a style and a design aesthetic that emphasized an authentic representation of “ordinary” Black people placed into culturally relevant situations, real people in positive circumstances.

Draw on Real Experiences: Data is always important, but quantitative data should not be used in a vacuum without an analysis of the real life experiences from the audience. Projects aimed at Black audiences should pull in the lived experiences from a wide set of Black people across socio-economic and class backgrounds to draw upon the richness and nuance of Black culture. In practice, this can mean utilizing focus groups and/or inviting Black practitioners to the table at the project’s inception.

Deconstruct Your Market Segmentation: Advancements in segmentation, especially on digital platforms, allow for media planners to reach niche audiences. But these advances often lead to an either/or approach to segmentation that needs to be deconstructed. We don’t have to talk to mainstream audiences or Black audiences. One of Burrell’s most popular ads “Street Song” for Coca-Cola was original made with a Black audience in mind, but in market and focus groups performed just as well, if not better with “mainstream white audiences.” This is because Burrell’s campaigns led with human interest and shared communal values. This approach can be used an an approach for advertising campaign.

Chambers' book provides illuminates the internal and external factors that made Burrell an innovator in advertising. The storytelling about Chambers' childhood and how he was a social chameleon, provides a lot of insight into how Burrell saw the world and the skillsets that made him really successful as an advertiser. I also appreciated that Chambers did not shy away from the controversial parts of Burrell's past - like his work with liquor and cigarette companies, all of which have perpetuated addictions in Black communities.

This book was so inspiring. I had never heard of Mr. Burrell before but after reading this book I have a great deal of respect for all his accomplishments. It’s easy to ignore the commercials that feature black actors and assume that it always that way. This book is a reminder of how much change has occurred and the effort it took to bring about that change. It never crossed my mind that advertising reached races and genders in different way. This book was eye opening and made me grateful that Mr. Burrell took the plunge to pursue a market that most would ignore. Learning how many of the most popular commercials and advertisements came about was really cool. Also seeing black men start a business with little guidance and no connections was inspiring and made this such a satisfying read. I was glad to learn about him and his journey.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Advertising Revolutionary looks at the career of the highly successful black advertising genius Tom Burrell. Chamers, the author, does a great job. There are some stories that if given well not only tell the life of a person and his work but show how society operates with all its tensions, hopes and fears. This book does well in all that as well as giving sound advice from the mouth of the genius, Burrell, about how to be successful in advertising.

To give a view of Burrell's work we have to see the idea of "Positive Realism". To portray black life in the USA as it is while seeing the positive that we find that is both resilient and joyful. Of course, the strategy begs the questions, what is positive and what is real. This is the essential story to the book, how Burrell skillfully dissects the ideas of his intended audience in what they considered a real representation of their life, and what they considered to be positive. I do not want to spoil the book, so I'll just say Burrell succeeds, and builds a very remarkable story in advertising history. I highly recommend this book.