Soul Train and Advertising Black Hair
The history of African American hair could fill another book, probably has- black people believed they should be ashamed of their natural hair texture- but Soul Train ran ads that turned that mind-set on it’s head, urging that Afros were something that should be worn proudly. It’s one thing to preach a message of self-love, of “black is beautiful,” during the editorial part of a show. It’s another thing entirely to make good on that during the bill-paying portion of the same broadcast. Don’s genius was that he was selling Afrocentricity in a bottle. I still use Afro Sheen... It’s impossible to underestimate the importance of the Soul Train commercials, which represented some of the first opportunities to buy television advertising and create ads targeting the African American audience. The kinds of things didn’t exist before Soul Train, and the shows partnership with Johnson Products created openings for black writers, black actors, black directors, black producers, and black ad agencies. What was at work was good business sense, but also community cohesion.
