Grey Rebrands Itself to Honor Its Jewish Founders

The 20th century is described as a tragic time for the Jewish people, culminating in one of the most atrocious genocides in human history — the Holocaust— during which over 6 million Jews lost their lives in concentrations camps.

About 80% of Europe’s Jewish immigrants chose America as their destination during the 19th and early 20th century. Due to the stereotypes which began to revolve around Jewish people, they were labeled as “economically unacceptable to American life.” Thus, at the end of the 19th century, the Jewish population began to confront discrimination in education or employment.

In those days, opening a business with a Jewish name would have been a perfect recipe for failure: Advertising was a business conducted by white men on golf courses. Being aware of this fact, two young entrepreneurs, Lawrence Valenstein and Arthur Fatt, founded an advertising company in New York, in 1917.

Larry Valenstein (left) and Arthur Fatt (right)

Because anti-Semitism was blooming at that time, the founders logically decided not to name the company after their Jewish names. Therefore, inspired by the office’s wallpaper color, the new business was named Grey.

Today, Grey is one of the largest advertising agencies in the world with offices in 96 countries and over 10,000 employees, where gender, race, religion, and sexuality are not seen as hiring criteria. In their rebranding effort, the company wants to promote diversity both within its own agency and also across other ad businesses.

To celebrate the agency’s centenary year and to honor its founders, Grey London changes its name to Valenstein & Fatt for 100 days.

As of 27th March, the London-based agency will be known as Valenstein & Fatt for almost three months. This change involves renaming its office signs and business cards. Also, all incoming calls taken by the company will be operated under the temporary name.

Part of embracing the diversity process, the temporary name change is based on a concrete plan through which the company will publish its own diversity data and will look to inspire the next generations to choose a creative career. According to the already renamed website, the agency will launch the Valenstein & Fatt Bursary, which will provide one-year accommodation for two young people from an ethnic minority or from other disadvantaged areas.

With this change, the company launched a 3-minute-long video that narrates the story of the two Jewish founders and explains why, “Lawrence Valenstein and Arthur C. Fatt are names that could cost you business.”

Leo Rayman, Grey London’s CEO, declared: “Recent events, from rising instances of hate crime and terror attacks in London to the triggering of Article 50, have sent shivers through our society and businesses.” Because of these type of unpleasant situations, the advertising company’s initiative is to commit to diversity by making a “statement against intolerance and prejudice,” and stop Grey, or rather Valenstein & Fatt, from hiding their true ancestry.