How Black Identity, In All Its Freshness and Different Beauty, Turned Blackness into A 'Brand' That America Wanted to Buy

“Pitch Black: The best Black ads of the past 50+ years,” a new coffee-table book by advertising executive Mark Robinson (ISBN: 978-1736621585), goes on sale September 7, 2026. Published as part memoir and part business history, it traces how Black creatives helped shape pop culture and consumer perceptions over the past half-century, positioning advertising as a tool tied to the U.S. Civil Rights movement. Robinson, who spent 45 years in major agencies and helped co-found Spike/DDB at filmmaker Spike Lee’s request, says the book challenges the idea that influence came only from mainstream ad-world figures. Even before release, it received four literary awards.