Late advertising pioneer, diplomat Foote was ‘best in whatever endeavour’

Local business visionary R. Danny Williams has described lifelong friend Arnold ‘Junior’ Foote, advertising pioneer, athlete and diplomat, as an outstanding Jamaican who “simply wanted to be the best in whatever endeavour he undertook and worked to that end”.

Williams was delivering the remembrance at the Mass of Christian Burial for the life of Foote, OJ, CD, JP, on Tuesday, December 14, at Sts Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Kingston. Only members of the immediate family were in attendance, with the service streamed live on YouTube.

Williams recalled that he and his late friend first met in 1946 as 11-year-olds entering Jamaica College.

“We were placed in the same form and got to know each other fairly well. He was always the friendly, warm, jovial and humorous person. No one could take a joke or tell a story like he could, and his personality never changed over his lifetime,” recalled Williams.

He said in school, Foote’s popularity was influenced not only by his personality and humour, but his prowess as an outstanding athlete, who represented Jamaica College on the Manning Cup team before he was 13 years old. He also played football, cricket and hockey, and participated in track and field while at high school. He was also called up to the national football team as a goalkeeper and proved to be an outstanding one.

Williams recalled that both he and Foote would repeat the following long-standing joke about their time in school, although there is no evidence as to which version was correct. “I won’t say much about his academics at school, because as I always teased him, Junior was the only person who could copy from me and end up with a higher mark, having corrected an error I had made. Nonetheless, he passed Senior Cambridge and graduated,” recalled Williams.

Foote set up his own advertising agency, Advertising & Marketing – now referred to as Admark – before he was 30 years old. He is credited with creating one of GraceKennedy’s most popular advertising campaigns with the famous slogan: ‘What a great way Grace taste’.

One of Foote’s greatest achievements was as a member of the consular corps. On being appointed consular for Turkey in Jamaica, he soon became the dean of the Consular Corps locally, before distinguishing himself as the first Jamaican to be elected president of the World Federation of Consuls. During his leadership, he transformed the global organisation to incorporate all the regions of the world. The international impact of his presidency resulted in him being invited to be a guest at the House of Lords in the UK, and he made a presentation to Pope Benedict.

“He was a man of great faith, a man of integrity and honesty, a man of his word, a wonderful host, a true patriot and a genuine friend,” said Williams.

Also paying tribute to Foote were his granddaughter Arnella Goubault and son ‘JJ’, who said his father faced situations that threatened to hold him back. “But his strength of character and focus took him through, with him emerging stronger to become a larger-than-life public figure,” JJ said.