Ad pioneer Vince Cullers moves to big agency in the sky

Vince Cullers founded Vince Cullers Advertising in 1956, the first black-owned agency, with the daring idea to tailor ad campaigns marketing specifically to black people.

He made the bold move of marketing Afro sheen in Swahili with the tagline "Watu wazuri" (beautiful people).

Vince Cullers Advertising enjoyed success and debuted as the fifth largest firm on the first BE Ad Agencies list in 1973 with $2.5 million in billings, paving the way for many more black-owned agencies after his.

"What was fantastic about what Vince did was that he approached corporate America with the idea that rather than integrating black people into a white concept of advertising, advertisers needed to buy into the idea of creating messages that resonated only with black people," says Ken Smikle, president of the Chicago-based research and information company Target Market News.

When Vince fell ill last year his son Jeffery took over the company and reorganized it under the name the Vince Cullers Group.

Born in Chicago's Bronzeville during the Depression, Vince Cullers, son of Samuel and Letitia, passed away on October 4, 2003. A DuSable High graduate and WWII Marine, he met his wife Marian during the war, with whom he shared over 50 years.

Vince, trained at Kling Studios and The Art Institute of Chicago, broke racial barriers by founding Vince Cullers Advertising in 1956, the first Black full-service agency in the U.S. His career highlighted by working with major brands like Johnson Products and creating shows like "Lu's Notebook" and "The Black Couch," earned him numerous awards including CEBA awards, Clios, and the Trumpet Award.

An active member of Crerar Memorial Presbyterian Church, Boy Scouts Council, and various business boards, Vince retired after 45 years of pioneering advertising work.

He is survived by his wife Marian, sons Terry and Jeff, grandsons Bryan and Devyn, daughter-in-law Carmelita, and extended family.

Donations in his memory can be made to the Cullers Cornerstone Scholarship Foundation at Seaway National Bank.

Vince's trailblazing spirit and legacy in advertising endure.