The Campaign
In 1976, Burrell McBain created “Street Song” for Coca-Cola, featuring an a cappella group performing a Coke jingle in a style rooted in Black street performance traditions. The spot showed Black performers in an urban setting, using call-and-response vocal arrangements and harmony structures tied to gospel, doo-wop, and street corner singing.
The campaign was part of Burrell’s broader strategy to center Black culture in advertising rather than adapt white-targeted creative with Black faces. “Street Song” used musical language that felt native to Black audiences while selling the product through cultural authenticity.
Why It Mattered
Cultural impact
The spot became one of the first nationally broadcast commercials to feature Black musical traditions as the primary creative vehicle, not background flavor. It presented Black performers as central to the narrative, performing in their own cultural idiom without translation or softening for white audiences.
Business impact
The campaign helped Coca-Cola deepen its relationship with Black consumers during a period when brands were beginning to recognize the purchasing power of the Black community. Burrell’s work demonstrated that culturally specific creative could drive product loyalty and sales.
Historical significance
The Library of Congress archived “Street Song” as part of its collection on American advertising and cultural history, recognizing its role in shifting how brands approached Black audiences and how Black people were portrayed in mainstream media.
The Strategy Behind It
Tom Burrell’s philosophy of “positive realism” guided the creative. The spot showed Black people in authentic, aspirational moments using a product in ways that felt culturally grounded. The a cappella format drew on Black musical heritage, the urban setting reflected where many Black consumers lived, and the performance style honored traditions that mainstream advertising had largely ignored.
This approach fit Burrell’s broader argument: Black consumers are not “dark-skinned white people.” They respond to creative that speaks their cultural language, and brands that invest in that specificity see stronger results.
What You Can Learn
Cultural specificity drives connection
“Street Song” worked because it didn’t try to be universal. It leaned into Black musical traditions and trusted that specificity would resonate more deeply than generic appeals.
Authenticity requires cultural fluency
The creative team understood Black performance styles from the inside. You can’t replicate that by hiring a diverse cast for a generic concept. The culture has to shape the creative from the start.
Representation is about more than casting
Putting Black people on screen matters, but “Street Song” went further by centering Black cultural expression as the creative idea itself. That’s the difference between inclusion and cultural grounding.
Where to View This
Library of Congress
The original “Street Song” spot is archived in the Library of Congress’s advertising collection. You can request access through their Moving Image Research Center.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
MoMA’s Department of Film occasionally features historic advertising in exhibitions on American visual culture and may have Burrell’s work in their study collection.
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
The museum’s collections include materials on Black business history and advertising. Contact their archives for research access.
Academic Archives
Several university libraries with advertising and African American studies programs maintain copies of historic campaigns, including:
- Duke University’s John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History
- University of Illinois Archives on Black advertising
Online Resources
Some clips and stills from Burrell’s Coca-Cola work appear in documentary features and retrospectives on advertising history. Search NPR’s Code Switch archives and Ad Age retrospectives for references and occasional clips.
Related Campaigns
- McDonald’s “Calvin” Series (1970s) – Another Burrell campaign using Black family storytelling
- Crest First Black-Targeted Packaged Goods Campaign (1980s) – Burrell’s work for Procter & Gamble
- Marlboro Urban Reimagining – How Burrell adapted the Marlboro Man for Black audiences
Related Trailblazers
- Tom Burrell – The ad man behind “positive realism”
- Caroline Jones – First Black woman to own a major ad agency
- Byron Lewis – Founder of UniWorld Group
Want to explore more Black advertising history? Join our community Slack to discuss iconic campaigns, share resources, and connect with other Black marketers and creatives building today’s work.
Join the BCC Community | Explore the Directory | Subscribe to the Newsletter
Sources
- Library of Congress Collections
- MoMA Film Archive
- Smithsonian NMAAHC Research and Collections
- Duke University John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History
- Dotdigital: The Birth of Black Marketing
- NPR Code Switch: The Black Advertising Pioneer
- The HistoryMakers: Thomas J. Burrell Biography
