Plural of adman; people who work in advertising, creating and promoting ads.
From ad (advertisement) + men. 'Ad' became a shortening of 'advertisement' in the early 1900s, and admen was the standard term for advertising professionals through the mid-20th century. From Latin advertere (turn toward).
The word 'admen' perfectly captures a whole era of American business—think of those sleek 1950s guys in 'Mad Men' who invented modern advertising. It's fascinating that we don't really use 'admen' anymore because the industry changed and diversified so much.
Plural of 'adman,' a term originating in mid-20th century advertising that explicitly encoded masculinity into the professional role, reinforcing the assumption that advertising executives and strategists were male.
Use 'advertising professionals,' 'advertising executives,' or 'ad professionals' instead of 'admen'.
["advertising professionals","ad executives","advertising strategists","ad professionals"]
Women have been integral to advertising strategy and creative direction since the 1920s, though early contributions were often uncredited or subordinated to male 'admen.'
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