Sanford Moore Speaks Out: Advocate of Racial Parity on Madison Avenue

Workforce Management
February 2009
By Rupal Parekh

For 40 years, Sanford Moore has been an advocate for racial parity on Madison Avenue, particularly for African-Americans. He has been a thorn in the side of the agency structure, a chief cheerleader of government attempts to intervene and a critic of other African-Americans whose methods he doesn’t agree with. This interview was conducted by Advertising Age, a sister publication to Workforce Management.

He started out at BBDO in 1969, and left the agency two years later to establish his own consulting firm that specialized in ethnic marketing. In the late 1970s, he had a stint at Lockhart & Pettus, a black advertising agency.
As an independent consultant in the three decades since, Moore’s interest in civil rights has led him to work with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, as well as Walter Fauntroy and Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress.
His lobbying for African-Americans on Madison Avenue laid the groundwork for the Madison Avenue Project, a class-action lawsuit led by Cyrus Mehri and the NAACP.
Ad Age: How did the Madison Avenue Project come about?
Moore: I was introduced to Cyrus Mehri, and I presented the case and supporting documentation. He saw the injustice of the situation and agreed to undertake the effort. One of the things that Cyrus does in his settlements is that he puts in place certain ongoing mechanisms that monitor where there’s accountability from the top down to change the corporate culture from discrimination and exclusion. I’m not going to be here forever, and unfortunately, if I hadn’t gotten this done, [Madison Avenue] would have gotten away scot-free.
Ad Age: What motivates you to take on the industry?
Moore: I’ve never liked bullies, and I don’t like mendacity and obfuscation. Madison Avenue is like a plantation where the slave owners, the heads of the holding companies, benefit from the labor and the profits generated by the slaves and sharecroppers. I’m not finished with them yet! Before it’s over, Madison Avenue will pay the price for its historical discrimination.
Were it not for black consumer spending, many of the icons of the American marketplace would not enjoy the advantages and profits that they do. Black consumers are the profit margin for many of Madison Avenue’s clients, yet Madison Avenue refuses to acknowledge and give the correct value and importance that these consumers play to the overall success of their clients.

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