National Advertising Council
The National Advertising Council was formed in 1942 as the War Advertising Council and for the period from 1945 to the 1960s became one of the leading pan-corporate lobby groups, one of the five members of the 'business aristocracy' as William Domhoff put it.[1] In this period it was known as the National Advertising council but later changed its name to the Advertising Council often called the Ad Council
History
The Advertising Council was incorporated in February 1942 as the War Advertising Council for the purpose of mobilizing the advertising industry in support of the war effort. Early campaigns encouraged the purchase of war bonds and conservation of war materials. The long-running Forest Fire Prevention campaign, with Smokey Bear as its famous mascot, also began as a war campaign in response to the fear that Japanese submarines might start forest fires by shelling the west coast of the United States.
After the conclusion of the Second World War the War Advertising Council changed its name to the Advertising Council and shifted its focus to peacetime campaigns. According to documents from the Council's archives, the group aimed to enhance public opinion of and co-opt liberal opposition to advertising by using it to promote liberal and popular causes.
Famous campaigns include the "Crying Indian" anti-pollution campaign for Keep America Beautiful; the United Negro College Fund campaign, with its slogan "A mind is a terrible thing to waste"; the McGruff campaign with its slogan "Take a bite out of crime" for the National Crime Prevention Council (in conjunction with the US Department of Justice); and the "Friends don't let friends drive drunk" campaign for the US Department of Transportation.
William Domhoff writes[2]:
- The final major association of the American business aristocracy is very different from the other four. It is the National Advertising Council. The NAG was formed during World War II as the War Advertising Gouncil and was designed to promote such government programs as rationing and war bonds. After the war it continued as a public service paid for by the large corporations. 'It's a voluntary gift to America by U. S. business,' explained a two-page advertisement in a 1965 issue of Time Magazine.'[3] The council's best-known figure is Smokey the Bear, but it also supports the Red Cross, the Peace Corps, the United Nations, Traffic Safety, Youth Fitness, and Radio Free Europe. As of 1958, eight of the 19 members of its Public Policy Committee were members of the Council on Foreign Relations. Four of the eight who are in the CFR, along with four others, are corporate executives or members of the upper class. The others are college presidents (three), labor leaders (two), and a variety of professional persons. Among the upper-class members of this council are John J. McCloy, a leading figure in the Council on Foreign Relations, Benjamin Buttenweiser, a leading figure in the Foreign Policy Association, and Paul G. Hoffman, a leading figure in the Committee for Economic Development. However, the most obvious basis of control in this case is corporate financing.
- Radio Free Europe, one of the NAC's benefactions, is the largest of the nongovernmental radio stations beamed at the Communist world. It is aimed exclusively toward the five Communist countries of Eastern Europe. RFE is an operation of the Free Europe Committee, Inc., founded in 1949 and backed by funds raised by the Committee's Crusade for Freedom. General Dwight Eisenhower, later president of Columbia University and of the United States, and General Lucius D. Clay led the first fund-raising campaign, and its first directors included Clay, Allen Dulles (SR, NY), C. D. Jackson (SR, NY), and A. A. Berle, Jr. (SR, NY). Other upper-class Americans who have been officials of the Free Europe Committee or one of its subcommittees include William Clayton, Henry Ford II, Herbert H. Lehman, Henry R. Luce, and Charles M. Spofford (SR, NY).'[4]
Role today
Resources
- Robert Jackall and Janice M. Hirota, The Image Makers: Advertising, Public Relations, and the Ethos of Advocacy (University of Chicago, 2000). ISBN 0-226-38916-2 (paperback: ISBN 0-226-38917-0)
External links
- Advertising Council official website
- Advertising Council archives
- SourceWatch article on the Advertising Council
- Outdoor Advertising Association of America homepage
- Peggy Conlon, President and CEO on Radio program Political Inversion
