Edward F. Boyd--who joined Pepsi-Cola in 1947 and commissioned ads showing African-Americans as fun-loving middle-class consumers living the American dream--died last week in Los Angeles. He was
92.
Boyd hired some of the first black ad models, flooded black papers with ads, and added new sophistication and prominence to the ads already being published in magazines like
Ebony. He created the first point-of-purchase displays aimed at minorities.
Boyd also used pictures of distinguished blacks like Ralph Bunche, the diplomat, and of
high-achieving students. His program also included having celebrities like Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton give "shout-outs" for Pepsi from the stage.
For his most daring initiative,
Boyd assembled a squad of black salesmen to visit bottlers, grocery stores and teachers' and doctors' conferences. They were even invited to speak from church pulpits, discreetly not mentioning a
certain effervescent liquid.
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