Wally Snyder

Wally Snyder has devoted his professional career to establishing the importance of advertising to consumers and to the economy. Always recognizing the dedication and hard work of advertising professionals, he has advanced their interests by counseling the highest standards of law and ethics. A major focus of his efforts has been to strengthen the diversity of the industry at all levels. Believing that America’s greatest asset is its multicultural society, the programs he has championed have brought together professionals of all races to produce advertising that truly connects with all Americans.

A lawyer with a J.D. degree from the University Of Iowa College Of Law – where he served as Student Body President – Snyder spent 16 years at the Federal Trade Commission in the field of advertising law and policy. He litigated and argued on appeal national cases, and he then advanced to associate director for advertising practices becoming the Commission’s liaison to the advertising industry. During this formative time in new advertising regulation he facilitated interaction between the Commission and the advertising industry. This included giving speeches to the industry on the FTC legal standards, and in turn taking part in ad agency seminars to learn the importance of truthful advertising to consumers. Snyder also served as the FTC’s liaison officer to the Food and Drug Administration and testified before Congress.

In 1985, Snyder joined the American Advertising Federation as senior vice president, government affairs where he represented and testified on behalf of 40,000 advertising professionals before Congress and state legislative bodies. His service included defending and enhancing the First Amendment Right under the Constitution to engage in truthful advertising, and personal participation in 25 state legislative battles to defeat the taxing of advertising. His work included the organization and training of the Federation’s local grassroots professional membership – most notably in the repeal of the Florida Ad Tax that in its first six months had cost the state loss of jobs and advertising revenue.

Snyder was elected president and CEO of the AAF in 1992 and served as the industry’s spokesperson for 16 years. He championed new multicultural advertising and diversity initiatives, including the Most Promising Minority Students awards program whereby hundreds of young professionals of color have joined the advertising industry and risen to leadership in their companies and agencies. Also, the Mosaic Council–a who’s who of industry multicultural leadership–was established under Snyder’s leadership, as was the drafting and industry approval of the “Mosaic Principles and Illustrated Guidelines” that made attracting minority consumers a major client goal. These principles were endorsed and followed by the federal government thereby further enhancing its relationship with the advertising industry. In conjunction with District 2 of the American Advertising Federation Snyder established the Mosaic Awards recognizing successful diversity initiatives by companies and individuals.

Considered an advertising industry expert on public policy and law, Snyder has appeared on CNBC, CNN, Fox News, National Public Radio and NBC. He has written articles for publications including Advertising Age, Business & Professional Ethics Journal, the Advertising Journal and The Journal of Advertising Research.

Snyder remains active in the business of advertising. He serves as the AAF’s president emeritus, and in January 2008, he was elected to the board of directors of Valassis Communications.

In May of 2008, Snyder was named Distinguished Visiting Professor, Missouri School of Journalism, where he lectures, works with student teams on ethics research and organizes and moderates on campus forums with industry leaders probing the issues and principles of advertising ethics. In 2009-2010, he lectured and participated on ad ethics panel’s at the University of Illinois, Michigan State University, and DePauw University and at the national conference of the American Academy of Advertising. His current blogs on ethical advertising can be found on the University of Missouri Reynolds Journalism Institute Web site: www.rji.missouri.edu.

In 2009, Snyder was presented with the Kim Rotzoll Award for Advertising Ethics and Social Responsibility from the American Academy of Advertising. In 2008, he was named Diversity Pioneer by District 2-AAF, and Most Promising Minority Student Advocate by the AAF Mosaic Center.

Starting in 2004, Snyder has devoted a great deal of his private life to serving in Safe Passages where he has mentored 13 young men from the poverty community. He is also active in his local church where he is a certified Lay Speaker and Chair of the Council on Ministries.

He and his wife Jean have two sons—Charlie and Steve—and reside in Washington, DC.