How McGruff and the Crying Indian Changed America: A History of Iconic Ad Council Campaigns

by Wendy Melillo

How McGruff and the Crying Indian Changed America: A History of Iconic Ad Council Campaigns details how public service advertising campaigns became part of our national conversation and changed us as a society. The Ad Council began during World War II as a propaganda arm of President Roosevelt's administration to preserve its business interests. Happily for the ad industry, it was a double play: the government got top-notch work; the industry got an insider relationship that proved useful when warding off regulation. From Rosie the Riveter to Smokey Bear to McGruff the Crime Dog, How McGruff and the Crying Indian Changed America explores the issues and campaigns that have been paramount to the nation's collective memory and looks at challenges facing public service campaigns in the current media environment.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Wendy Melillo was a staff writer for The Washington Post, earning a Pulitzer Prize nomination and an award presented by President Clinton from the White House Correspondents’ Association for her coverage of the 1992 United Way scandal. While at The Washington Post, she won the Penney-Missouri Newspaper Award for her reporting on health and nutrition. For nearly a decade, Melillo was the Washington, DC, bureau chief and senior writer for Adweek, where she covered product and political advertising, marketing, PR, and regulation. Wendy Melillo is currently an assistant professor in the School of Communication at American University.

Reviews

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ad Council has created some of the most iconic campaigns to spur Americans to action. Volunteering their services to ward off more direct federal intervention, they harnessed the country's top advertising executives and broadcasters to fight forest fires and take a bite out of crime.

Sometimes academic, this meticulously researched book shows how corporations have focused on individualism to combat societal ills. The Council's corporate ties, and aversion to political controversy, have limited them to personal reforms that won't touch needed structural overhauls. Much of their work has been good and effective, but the reader walks away wondering how much the public is ultimately served by the advertising industry's charity.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought advertising would be interesting. Turns out it isn't. I was more interested in the ads themselves and how they came about. I thought once I got to those chapters it would get better. It did not. Lots of stats and very dry.

[Alexander K · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A mind is...."
"Only you can..."
"Friends don't let friends..."
"Loose lips..."
This book is an interesting deep dive into American PSAs. Most advertising cases don't truly provide enough background information (cultural, artistic, response). This book goes all out with that information. Definitely a must read if you are going into #Advertising. @wendymelillo #howmcgruffandthecryingindianchangedamerica #smokeythebear #wpl #marketing #creative

[Parker Schaffel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book did a good job of explaining the impactful Ad Council stories, but it had a lot of seemingly tangential information about each, things like atmospherics and other background that wasn't relevant to the actual Ad Council campaign. I think the book could have been much shorter and accomplished the same task.

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overview of some of the Public Service Announcements created by the Ad Council. Each chapter goes into one campaign, starting with Smokey the Bear - some successful, some less so. The final chapter compares these to other PSAs and goes into some detail about the decline of screen time.
The book felt very disconnected, more of a survey than a statement. I would have liked a bit more history of the campaigns themselves. Being ads, a few more pictures would also be nice - but then the full spots are probably on the internet somewhere.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject matter, bogged down with A LOT of statistics.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the statistics in the book .. A fascinating read!

[Sarah Brennan-Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ultimately, a book about how advertising works. Don't care.