- Edward F. Boyd
Edward Francis "Ed" Boyd (
June 27 1914 –April 30 2007 ) was an Americanmarketing executive who was responsible for themarketing of products specifically toAfrican American s in an era whenracial discrimination was rampant and blacks had either been ridiculed or systematically ignored inadvertising .cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/business/06boyd.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin | last=Martin | first=Douglas | date=May 6 2007 | title=Edward F. Boyd Dies at 92; Marketed Pepsi to Blacks. | publisher=The New York Times | accessdate=2007-05-05] His efforts forPepsi-Cola pioneered the concept ofniche market ing and allowed Pepsi to substantially increase itsmarket share in the black community at the expense ofCoca-Cola .cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-boyd5may05,0,7240282,full.story?coll=la-news-obituaries | title=Edward Boyd, 92; Pepsi ad man broke color barriers | publisher=Los Angeles Times | first=Jocelyn Y | last=Stewart | date=May 5 2007 | accessdate=2007-05-05]Early life
Boyd, an African American himself, was born and grew up in
Riverside, California . After high school, he trained at a localopera company and wanted to be adiplomat . After graduating from theUniversity of California, Los Angeles in 1938, he enjoyed a short film career, playing minor roles, often as stereotypical singing and dancing roles which he resented. During his time inHollywood , he escortedHattie McDaniel to the 1939Academy Award s ceremony when she became the first African American performer to win one.cite web | url=http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200702/20070227_boyd.html | first=Smiley | last=Tavis | date=February 27 2007 | title=Edward Boyd | publisher=PBS | format=interview | accessdate=2007-05-04] He later worked for theScreen Actors Guild , was the first African American to work for theCivil Service Commission in San Francisco, and then worked as a housing specialist for theNational Urban League .Career at Pepsi
When Boyd joined Pepsi in 1947, most U.S. businesses either ignored the African American market or depicted them using ethnic stereotypes such as the "
Mammy archetype ". But Walter S. Mack, president of Pepsi at the time, saw the potential of a vast untapped market. In fact, he had previously established an all-black sales team in 1940, but had to drop it due toWorld War II .Boyd's idea, revolutionary at the time, was to create advertisements that showed black Americans as normal, middle-class people. One such ad featured a smiling mother holding a
six pack of Pepsi while her son (a young Ron Brown, who grew up to be Secretary of Commerce) reaches up for one. Anotherad campaign , titled "Leaders in Their Fields", profiled twenty prominent African Americans such asNobel Peace Prize winnerRalph Bunche .Boyd also led a sales team composed entirely of African Americans around the country to promote Pepsi.
Racial segregation andJim Crow laws were still in place throughout much of the U.S. and Boyd's team encountered a great deal of discrimination as a result. Not only did they have to ride on segregated trains and stay in black-only hotels, but they faced insults from Pepsi co-workers and even endured threats from theKu Klux Klan . On the other hand, they were able to useracism as a selling point, attacking Coke's reluctance to hire blacks and the support of segregationistGovernor of Georgia Herman Talmadge by the chairman of Coke. As a result, Pepsi's market share as compared to Coke's shot up dramatically. After the sales team visitedChicago , Pepsi's share in the city overtook that of Coke for the first time.This focus on the African American market caused some consternation within the company and among its affiliates. They did not want to seem focused on black customers for fear that
whites would be pushed away. In a meeting at theWaldorf-Astoria Hotel , Mack, who favored progressive causes and was the impetus for this marketing push, tried to assuage the 500bottler s in attendance by saying, "We don't want it to become known as thenigger drink." Boyd understood that those were not Mack's sentiments. "I didn't forget it, but I didn't hold it against him either," he told the "Wall Street Journal ". After Mack left the company in 1950, support for the black sales team faded and Boyd was let go."Wall Street Journal" writer Stephanie Capparell argues in her book "The Real Pepsi Challenge" that Boyd faced a more difficult challenge than
Jackie Robinson in breaking the color barrier of corporate America. By doing the same work and competing for the same jobs as white people, Boyd's team presented more of a threat to the average white man.cite news | url=http://www.usatoday.com/money/books/reviews/2007-01-22-pepsi-book_x.htm?csp=34 | title=Pepsi's challenge in 1940s: Color barrier | publisher=USA Today | first=Michelle | last=Archer | date=January 22 2007 | accessdate=2007-05-07]Later life
There were few opportunities for a black man as a business executive at that time, but Boyd's career continued over a variety of public and private sector jobs. He was a mission chief for CARE, worked with the
Society of Ethical Culture , and helped to pioneeralpaca farming in the U.S.Boyd's sister, Helen Boyd Howard, was married to Dr.
T.R.M. Howard , a surgeon, entepreneur, and civil rights leader in Mississippi who was a mentor toMedgar Evers .Boyd died in Los Angeles due to various complications including a
stroke he had suffered nearly two months earlier.References
Further reading
*cite book | title=The Real Pepsi Challenge: The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business | first=Stephanie | last=Capparell | publisher=Free Press | year=2007 | id=ISBN 0743265718
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