Image by Tom Burrell

TOM BURRELL is one of the first Black Americans in Advertising, and a nationally acknowledge leader in the advertising world.  He has achieved tremendous success due to his ability to target audiences.  Tom Burrell is a man of wisdom from whom I, a Black American woman intend to pay close attention to.  Especially since I too believe in “Positive Realism”. Mr. Burrell was born 1939, Chicago USA.  In 1957, he entered the Roosevelt University in Illinois where he majored in English and Studied in Advertising.  Tom Burrell landed his first job as a copywriter with the Chicago Division of Wade Advertising during his senior year.  He eventually earned a B.A. in English from the University.  In 1971 he founded the Burrell Communication Group.  His clients then and to this day included McDonalds and Coca-Cola. 

Image by Tom Burrell

Tom Burrell’s style is what he refers to as “Cultural Anthropology”.  He believed in authenticity.  It is important to study the “lived” experiences of the groups you target for marketing.  When I was an Undergraduate at Lehman College, CUNY, studying Art History, one of my courses was the Art of China.  Mostly we studied images from China’s various ancient cultures.  In my Dove Ad below, I tried to captivate the texture and mood of Ancient Chinese ink drawings of nature, which I thought then, and still think to be beautiful and serene.

Image by Marcia A Jackson

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