Ad Specialty Counselor

Red text with a yellow outline on a blue background.

The phrase "AD SPECIALTY COUNSELOR" was used to describe someone who worked in the promotional products industry, helping businesses choose branded items like pens, mugs, and buttons to support their marketing efforts. This button was likely a professional badge worn at trade shows or within distributor networks. Its clean, rectangular design points to its purpose as a form of identification, showing that the person wearing it played a consultative role in helping clients use promotional items strategically. 

The role became more official in the 1950s, around the time Joe Segel founded the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI). In 1954, ASI launched Counselor magazine, which helped establish "Ad Specialty Counselor" as the go-to job title for people in this line of work. These counselors did more than just sell—they offered advice on campaign planning and product selection. The button likely dates to the 1950s or 1960s and would have been worn by someone recognized in that professional role, either as an identifier or as an award.