Reporting by John Crump
U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)-Angus McQueen, the CEO of the Oklahoma City advertising agency Ackerman McQueen, has died at the age of 74.
McQueen lost his fight with cancer on July 16th 2019 and passed away surrounded by friends and family.
The McQueen family released a statement to the press that read: “Our father always reminded us, with unwavering commitment, that family is everything. He knew that the love of family could weather any storm, conquer any evil. He was a man who ‘didn’t seek the spotlight, refusing to let that pursuit distract him from what mattered most. Our ‘family’s motto, constant and faithful, fueled his life. Dad never strayed, he never compromised those principles with his business or his family. He treated everyone with respect and left us with the mission to carry that kindness forward. We will miss him forever, but he is now with our mother, the absolute love of his life.”
McQueen started his career in 1962 as a producer/director with NBC affiliate television stations in St. Louis and Houston. Beginning in 1965 he directed coverage of all Gemini and Apollo missions at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston for NBC News.
In 1972 McQueen directed coverage of the Republican National Convention in Miami for the network press pool. Throughout the election year, he headed the coverage the Nixon re-election campaign working closely with Nixon’s White House staffers.
In 1973 he joined Ackerman McQueen as Vice President/Creative Director. He moved up to the position of President and Co-Chief Executive in 1984 before taking on the role as CEO of the company in 1987.
McQueen is known as the architect of Ackerman McQueen’s relation with the National Rifle Association. The 36-year relationship would see the creation of NRATV and make people like Dana Loesch and Colion Noir household names. In 2017 this relationship earned Ackerman McQueen $42 million.
Earlier this year the NRA and Ackerman McQueen had a very public split. The NRA accused the AD firm of breach of contract. The gun-rights group claimed that Ackerman McQueen refused to turn over key analytics data which they were contractually obligated to do on-demand.
Ackerman McQueen called the lawsuit “frivolous, inaccurate and intended to cause harm” to the company’s reputation. In June of this year, the NRA shut down production of all live NRATV shows. All the stars of NRATV were employees of Ackerman McQueen and not the NRA. Loesch was reportedly making $1 million a year for her NRATV show.
Ackerman McQueen has filed countersuits against the NRA claiming that the NRA was trying to get out of its financial obligations and smear the public relations firm. The cases are still making their way through the court system.
Ackerman McQueen was also allegedly behind the attempted “coup” against Wayne LaPierre led by former NRA President Oliver North that came to ahead at this year’s annual meeting. North at the time of the power grab was still an employee of Ackerman McQueen. The attempt failed and saw the resignation of North and The National Rifle Association’s chief lobbyist, Chris Cox.
Angus McQueen 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.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.
My Condolences to his family. There will be plenty of time in the future for snarky remarks.
Never NRA.
Maybe this will set a precedent for LaPierre and his “crew” to follow. It would only be appropriate for LaPierre and his worshipers/paid followers, to be left alone in a room with an NRA commemorative hand gun and a single bullet.
Like the failed russian officer in enemy at the gates gets a tokarev on his desk and told to save them the paperwork,,,,
Hmmmm.. cross the NRA..assisted suicide?…hmmm..
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Lets see, over the years, NRA members contributed oceans of money to the NRA. The NRA paid huge amounts to Ackerman-McQueen. Wayne LaPierre, C. Cox, Marion Hammer, and Angus McQueen and others at Ackerman-McQueen benefited from all that money. And finally, the NFA and the GCA, both unconstitutional, have not been repealed.
Those are the undisputed facts. Am I leaving facts out before I reach a conclusion?
You summed it up quite nicely.
Too bad we can’t deal appropriate consequences for that.
La peeair needs to do a perp walk at the least
We’re waiting for WlP to follow suit.
@ Wild Bill, Nicely Done. @ Magnet, This weekend would work for Me.
Angus McQueen, the architect of an almost four decade long fraudulent scheme that turned the NRA from a once proud organization into a corrupt, branded cash cow.
Only proud thing they ever were was collaborateurs. Capitulate in ’34, capitulate in ’38, capitulate in ’68, outright betrayed us in ’86.