Post World War II Advertising Aimed At African American Consumers

The years following World War II featured a dramatic increase in advertising aimed at African American consumers. Before this period, many companies, especially large corporations, did not pay much attention to this segment of the U.S. consumer market. During the early twentieth century, African Americans were viewed as a rural population with limited money to spend. However, this situation changed as the years progressed.

By the end of World War II, many African Americans had left the rural South and had resettled in northern and western cities. African Americans who left the South did so to take advantage of better employment opportunities, as well as to escape the South’s overt racism. As more and more southern African Americans moved to northern and western cities, they increasingly attracted the attention of more and more U.S. companies seeking profits from what was then called “the Negro Market.”

The appearance of Ebony magazine in 1945, published by John H. Johnson, helped to further stimulate corporate interest in African American consumers. Ebony, a magazine that spotlighted examples of African American success, quickly became extremely popular in the African American community. The magazine’s publisher, John H. Johnson, cited its large readership to convince more American companies to advertise their products in Ebony.

While Ebony grew in importance, the post-World War II period also saw the dramatic growth of radio programming aimed at African Americans. In 1949, there were only a handful of U.S. radio stations featuring “Negro Appeal” programs. By 1955, there were over six hundred radio stations catering to African American listeners. Moreover, stations with “Negro Appeal” programming attracted more and more corporate advertising.

Along with the growing influence of Ebony magazine and “Negro Appeal” radio, the post-World War II period featured the growing Civil Rights Movement. By the 1960s, it was clear that the overall status of African Americans was improving. From a business standpoint, this gave U.S. companies even more motivation to advertise their products to African American consumers.

During the post-World War II period, based upon the factors described above, African American consumers across the country were actively encouraged to increase their purchases of a wide variety of products. Even before the years following World War II, African Americans had established distinctive buying patterns. For instance, a 1936 study noted that African Americans tended to purchase brand name products (versus generic products) based upon the belief that brand name products possessed better quality (than their generic counterparts). By the 1960s, the time period featured in the novel The Watsons Go To Birmingham, this tendency became even more apparent. African Americans, like other Americans, had even more access to the national marketplace through the medium of television. This helps to explain why various products are mentioned throughout the novel.

About the Author

Robert E. Weems Jr. is the Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History at Wichita State University and author of Desegregating the Dollar: African American Consumerism in the Twentieth Century.