Eandtnews

“Black on Madison Avenue” has now received:

• The American Writing Award
• The Best Indie Book Award
• The Firebird Book Award
• The Hollywood Book Festival Award
• The Pinnacle Book Award

And now,

• The North Street Book Prize

“Black on Madison Avenue” chronicles the true experiences of a Black man who has spent 40+ years on Madison Avenue at some of the advertising industry’s most prestigious agencies and gives readers a rare glimpse of what it’s like to be one of the very, very few Black professionals in the advertising agency business.  

According to Robinson’s book, advertising decides what America wants. And yet, for an industry that professes to be the vanguard of creativity, popular culture and forward thinking, advertising is one of the most un-diverse white-collar professions in America.  Surprisingly, despite all of its public gestures of “wokeness”, the stories contained in the book suggest that Madison Avenue would like to keep it that way.

“Black on Madison Avenue” explains how – and why – the author landed on Madison Avenue, and shares stories of his adventures over the past 40+ years.  Yes, adventures, like getting into a shouting match with a Venezuelan Army general in the middle of a military coup.  Robinson recounts how he kidnapped advertising legend Jim Jordan, insulted high-ranking Chinese government officials at a formal dinner and launched the first $250 million multicultural marketing holding company.

Rarely has a new author received the kind of critical praise and recognition of a literary book award, let alone six of them, but Mark Robinson (himself the recipient of the 2023 Paragon Award from the ad industry’s Society of Excellence) says he is tremendously gratified by the response the book has gotten.  Early reviews have given the book a lot of love:

“Mark Robinson has not written the typical Madison Avenue memoir — thank goodness! ‘Black on Madison Avenue’ is enlightening, written with tough love, the toughest love this side of a Marine drill sergeant. Mark is frank in his descriptions of the shortcomings of the advertising industry he has worked in for decades and offers concrete steps to take so that it no longer resembles what he calls a ‘luminescent snowstorm.’ Very much worth reading.” – Stuart Elliott, Former Advertising Columnist, The New York Times

“Part autobiography, part history lesson, part cautionary tale. This unpredictable and vivid journey is a rare peek behind the Black curtain. It’s densely packed with stories of an industry that at once accepted and rejected the author’s talents for reasons most obvious to him and those who look like him and is, at its core, the story of all Black men and women who fell in love with an industry that rarely loved them back.” – Danny Robinson, Chief Creative Officer, The Martin Agency

Robinson was the co-founder of Spike/DDB, along with filmmaker Spike Lee and is a past member of the American Advertising Federation’s Multicultural Marketing Leadership Council, a national touring lecturer for the Advertising Educational Foundation, and an ongoing mentor for MAIP (Minority Advertising Internship Program) for the 4A’s.  

“I have given my entire adult professional life to this business.  Advertising is not just what I do.  It is a part of who I am.  I am Black on Madison Avenue.”  

www.BlackOnMadisonAvenue.com

Media Contact
Company Name: BabyBitBurnReflect
Contact Person: Mark Robinson
Email: Send Email
Phone: 203-947-0912
Address:36 Flat Rock Drive
City: Ridgefield
State: CT 06877
Country: United States
Website: www.BlackOnMadisonAvenue.com