Pitch Black
The best Black ads of the past 50+ years
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Pub Date 7 Sep 2026 | Archive Date 1 Nov 2026
BookBaby | Alliance Books
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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 author and advertising luminary, Mark Robinson, 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 history from a previously unexplored perspective.
"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, the book showcases the advertising images of the past 50 years and chronicles a previously unrecorded chapter of the history of American business, fashion and culture, revealing how Black identity, in all its freshness and different beauty, turned Blackness into a "brand" that America wanted to buy.
Advance Praise
Pitch Black is essential reading, a curated archive that preserves what must be included in the advertising canon. Mark Robinson and his distinguished panel of creative directors have created more than a retrospective; they've assembled evidence of creative brilliance that shaped American culture and deserves permanent recognition in our collective narrative. For students, practitioners, and anyone committed to understanding the full story of American visual culture, Robinson has given us an indispensable resource.
Robin Landa
Distinguished Professor, Kean University
Mark Robinson has done it again. In Pitch Black, he gives us an engaging picture of advertising done by and for Black folks. He’s brought together a wide range of advertisements with a bunch that you’ll remember and some that you’ve overlooked.
And alongside the ads, he’s brought sharp analysis written in his trademark style. And his is no mere surface analysis, Mark goes deep into the history to uncover the stories behind the creation and intention of the ads and their impact on society and Black culture. Pitch Black is a book that you should definitely buy and add to your collection.
JASON P. CHAMBERS, Ph.D.
Author, Associate Dean for DEI | Associate Professor, Advertising
Pitch Black brilliantly shows the cultural and economic upside of getting it right, and the implications of getting it wrong. It's a brilliant read with practical advice and insights that are just as relevant today as they were back then.
John Osborn
President, SeenThis, former CEO of BBDO & OMD
Robinson tells the story of Black advertising as being inseparable from the story of America—a journey from invisibility, from reflection to creation, from the era of enslavement and caricature to the rise of Black-owned agencies and the global power of Black culture as a driver of commerce.
Carol H. Williams
CEO & Chief Creative Officer, Carol H. Williams Advertising
Advertising Hall of Fame, Class of 2017
Finally, someone said it out loud.
Black creativity has always driven culture while rarely getting the credit. Mark Robinson changes that with this book.
Crystal G. Robert
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781736621561 |
| PRICE | $9.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 180 |