The Past is Prologue On the occasion of Americas’ 250th Birthday!
Steve Pacheco, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Advertising Federation (AAF)
I hope you found a great way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday with friends and family in your community.
Nationwide, Americans celebrated with parades, decorated bicycles, strollers, and cars in red, white, and blue, and gathered at community block parties.
I used the time to reflect on America’s other big birthday—the Bicentennial—way back in 1976. I was too young to fully appreciate the history and the importance of it all. But the hot dogs were free, the Cokes were cold, and those fireworks over the Mississippi River sure were cool!
For a teenager like me, it gave me the opportunity to consider the past and the future of this great country, as well as the men and women who had shaped and defined what America meant to me and others. The sense of patriotism and awe was never higher for me.
And I never gave it much thought that at some point in my lifetime, America would celebrate its 250th birthday! Amazing.
This past July 4th got me thinking about the proud history of our long-standing organization.
Your AAF was first established in 1905 as the Associated Advertising Clubs of America. Its earliest origins date to the “Truth in Advertising” movement in the early 1900s, which unified local ad clubs into a national network. The modern, unified AAF was formally established in 1967 when the Advertising Federation of America (AFA) merged with the Advertising Association of the West (AAW).
In the 1930s, the AAF persevered through the Great Depression, and member agencies developed public service ads for war bonds and jobs programs.
The AAF started producing the Advertising Hall of Fame in 1949, and we just celebrated the 75th anniversary of this proud and honored platform.
In 1968, Howard Bell was named the first president of the AAF. Headquarters were established in New York, with a Government Affairs office set up in Washington, D.C. Wally Snyder followed Howard as CEO and added even more emphasis on industry self-regulation.
The focus back then was on self-regulation for the industry. The AAF led the way here and showed the nation and lawmakers that a self-policed industry was in everyone’s best interest.
In the 1970s, the Alpha Delta Sigma fraternity merged with the AAF. This marked the first mash-up of education and advertising, resulting in stronger connections between emerging professionals and the established advertising industry.
Our grassroots network paved the way for so many great programs and platforms. The National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) was started in District 7 in 1973. The AAF ADDY Awards were started by AAF District 4 in 1960 and rebranded as the American Advertising Awards in 2013.
That long history and innovation have served us (and the industry) well, setting us all on a course for continued success and growth.
“The past is prologue.”
That line dates back to William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1611) and means that history sets the context for the present. In a very practical sense, it suggests that everything that has happened before is merely an introduction, and the choices we make today build directly upon the foundation of our past experiences.
Whether looking at your personal goals or broader historical trends, this phrase serves as a marker and a reminder that the future is a blank page, but the ink is made from what has already happened. Understanding the trajectory of your own history helps you make informed, deliberate choices moving forward.
I believe that the best days for the AAF are still just ahead—and that’s worth celebrating!
As you see, our proud history, past successes, and long-standing commitment to bettering the advertising industry are defining characteristics of our grassroots network and help us live out our mission to be “The Unifying Voice for Advertising.”
June 24, 2026
