Name: Pitch Black
Price: 59.95 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Mark S. Robinson

About The Author

Mark S. Robinson has spent the past 45 years in advertising at some of the industry’s most prestigious agencies. Mark has been featured in Fortune magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Black Enterprise and Advertising Age.

Mark is a past member of the American Advertising Federation’s Multicultural Marketing Leadership Council, a national touring lecturer for the American Educational Foundation, and an ongoing mentor for MAIP for the American Association of Advertising Agencies.

Mark’s earlier book, “Black On Madison Avenue,” winner of an astounding 9 literary book awards, is part memoir and part explosive history of “America’s most un-diverse white collar profession.”

Mark is the recipient of the 2023 Paragon Award from the 4A’s Society of Excellence, and the 1970's Diamond of the Decade Award from the 4A's Foundation.

Overview

Pitch Black is a beautiful and a historical presentation of the best and most successful advertising created for – and created by – African Americans.

It is a remarkable collection that cannot be found in any other book, library, or museum. Interspersed between chapters of historical narration, the book showcases the advertising images for each of the five decades of the past 50 years and chronicle a previously unrecorded chapter of the history of American business, fashion and culture. They reveal how Black identity, in all its freshness and different beauty, turned Blackness into a "brand" that America wanted to buy.

"Pitch Black" reveals how advertising created by Black people and for Black people became one of the most effective tools – and weapons – of the Civil Rights movement, changing the world's perception of Black America. Advertising enabled America to get to know Black people in ways that would have been impossible otherwise.

Today, we are masters of culture and art and commerce. Today, there is no pop culture without Black people. And there is no commerce without pop culture. But it has been a long journey. How we got here is the story of Blacks in advertising of the past fifty years. This is the story of Pitch Black.

Description

What if the most influential architects of modern American pop culture weren't the ad men of Mad Men, but the unsung Black creatives who built their own ad agencies in the shadows of Jim Crow?

“Pitch Black: The best Black ads of the past 50+ years,” a new book by Ridgefield, CT author and advertising luminary, Mark Robinson, officially goes on sale September 7, 2026, and is destined to challenge what you think you know about American business, fashion and culture. “Pitch Black,” chronicles a pivotal chapter in America’s Civil Rights movement.

"Pitch Black" reveals how advertising created by Black people and for Black people became one of the most effective tools – and weapons – of the Civil Rights movement, changing the world's perception of Black America. Advertising enabled America to get to know Black people in ways that would have been impossible otherwise.

“Pitch Black” is a remarkable collection that cannot be found in any other book, library, or museum. Interspersed between chapters of historical narration, this beautiful "coffee table" book showcases the advertising images for each of the five decades of the past 50 years and chronicles a previously unrecorded chapter of the history of American business, fashion and culture. They reveal how Black identity, in all its freshness and different beauty, turned Blackness into a "brand" that America wanted to buy.

The book examines the history of Black America from a previously unexplored perspective.

Invaluable reference tool. Cherished keepsake. Testament.