Angus McQueen

Angus McQueen, whose Midwest advertising agency was a principal architect of the National Rifle Association’s modern image until the firm had a remarkable falling out with the gun group this year, died on Tuesday July 16 2019 in Oklahoma City. He was 74. Ackerman McQueen, the Oklahoma City advertising company that Mr. McQueen had long led, announced the death. He had had lung cancer. He had more than 50 years of communications industry experience and contributes to the strategic direction of all AM accounts. He began his career in 1962 as a producer/director with NBC affiliate television stations in St. Louis and Houston. From 1965 through 1972 he directed coverage of all Gemini and Apollo missions at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston for NBC News. Mr. McQueen was a writer/director with the U.S. Navy Office of Information in Washington, serving two years of active duty during the Vietnam War. As Managing Producer of Broadcast Production with the D’Arcy Advertising Co. in New York, McQueen wrote and produced television advertising for Royal Crown Colas, Lufthansa German Airlines, General Tire, Gerber Foods, SCM Typewriters, Taylor Wines and others. In 1972, he directed network pool coverage of the Republican National Convention in Miami and other election-year broadcasts with President Nixon’s White House staff. He served as Vice President/General Manager of Lewis/Unitas Advertising in New York, introducing Ticketron computerized ticketing in major U.S. markets. McQueen joined AM in July 1973 as Vice President/Creative Director and was elected President and Co-Chief Executive in 1984 and CEO in 1987. Mr. McQueen continues to be the most senior creative executive in charge of Ackerman McQueen’s thirty-four year relationship with the National Rifle Association of America. He is survived by his son, Revan, who is the current chief executive of Ackerman McQueen; his daughters Skye Brewer and Loren Zanotti; and seven grandchildren. His wife, Jodi (Hetzke) McQueen, a former model and actress, died in 2013.