American Association of Advertising Agencies records, 1918-2007

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Summary

Creator:
American Association of Advertising Agencies
Abstract:
The American Association of Advertising Agencies, founded in 1917, is the primary advertising industry trade organization. Collection includes correspondence, annual corporate and stockholder reports for member agencies, meeting minutes and speeches, biographical summaries, a subject file, and videotapes that document selected activities and functions of the organization. The collection has been compiled from a number of accessions received over time, and so does not represent a comprehensive archive of the AAAA. Certain aspects of AAAA activities, however, are well represented, including a set of card files that document the professional careers of AAAA members over a 50-year period, and subject files that focus on Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigations into complaints lodged against advertisers and advertising claims produced in a variety of media, with a particular emphasis on the ways that products were advertised during and in conjunction with children's television programming. Other topics touched on include advertising self-regulation, antitrust issues, advertising laws, and deceptive and ethical practices in marketing and advertising. Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.
Extent:
53.0 Linear Feet
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00003

Background

Scope and content:

Collection includes correspondence, annual corporate and stockholder reports for member agencies, meeting minutes and speeches, biographical summaries, a subject file, and videotapes that document selected activities and functions of the organization. The collection has been compiled from a number of accessions received over time, and so does not represent a comprehensive archive of the AAAA. Certain aspects of AAAA activities, however, are well represented, including the card files that document the professional careers of AAAA members over a 50-year period, and subject files that focus on Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigations into complaints lodged against advertisers and advertising claims produced in a variety of media, with a particular emphasis on the ways that products were advertised during and in conjunction with children's television programming. Other topics touched on include advertising self-regulation, antitrust issues, advertising laws, and deceptive and ethical practices in marketing and advertising.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1900
American Advertising Agents' Association
1911
Association of New York Advertising Agents; William H. Johns (George Batten Company and founder of Audit Bureau of Circulations), Chairman
1912-1916
Regional advertising associations
1916
Affiliated Association of Advertising Agencies
1917
American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) formed with 111 charter members and 5 regional councils (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Southern)
AAAA instrumental in formation of the Division of Advertising, Committee of Public Information, to support the war effort through recruiting, liberty bond, and Red Cross promotion
1917-1919
William H. Johns, President (position later renamed Chairman)
1917-1927
James O'Shaughnessy, Executive Secretary (position later renamed President)
1918
Agency Service Standards adopted
Media Rate Card established to publish and standardize member advertising rates
1919-1928
Advertising Agencies Corporation formed to support the war effort and other public service programs
1920
Standard order blanks, copyright protected forms to document member advertising services
1921
Uniform 15% commission rate; eventually adopted as an industry standard
1924
AAAA Standards of Practice
1926
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge delivered keynote address at the 10th Annual Meeting
1928-1943
John Benson, AAAA President
1931
Creative Code adopted to regulate advertising content
1936
AAAA and Association of National Advertisers (ANA) jointly form the Advertising Research Foundation to foster advertising-related market research
1942
War Advertising Council
1944-1961
Frederic R. Gamble, AAAA President
1945
Committee to Address Objectionable Advertising
1946
AAAA Interchange of Opinion, a forum where members could register complaints of objectionable advertising
1960
AAAA and ANA joint Committee for the Improvement of Advertising Content, aimed at industry self-regulation
1962-1977
John Crichton, AAAA President
1967
AAAA Educational Foundation, to foster advertising-related research at the university level
1971
National Advertising Review Board
1973
Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP), to encourage minority entry into the advertising profession
1978
William R. Hesse, AAAA President
1979-1988
Leonard S. Matthews, AAAA President
1983
AAAA Educational Foundation and Educational Foundation of the American Advertising Foundation merge to form Advertising Educational Foundation
1986
Media Advertising Partnership for a Drug-Free America
1989-1993
John E. O'Toole, AAAA President
1994-Present
O. Burtch Drake, AAAA President
Circa 1995
AAAA and ANA jointly form Coalition for Advertising Supported Information and Entertainment (CASIE) to address issues relating to interactive media and internet advertising, including online privacy

Historical timeline compiled from Marsha Appel, "American Association of Advertising Agencies," in Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising (N.Y.: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2003) and other sources.

Acquisition information:
The American Association of Advertising Agencies records were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gifts from the AAAA in 1995-2022.
Processing information:

Processed by Richard Collier, Arthur Fraas, Caitlin Harding, September 2006. Additions processed June 2024.

Accessions 95-125, 95-131, 96-017, 96-019, 96-043, 96-075, 98-320, 2002-005, 2006-013, 2007-0099, 2011-1051, 2022-0038 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.

Arrangement:

Organized into the following series: Administrative Files; Member Biographical Card File; Vertical File; Audiovisual Materials.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Access restricted. Access note. Collection contains fragile audiovisual formats that may need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], American Association of Advertising Agencies records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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