Recently I started a new job where it is customary to add your degree, academic title, or certification to your email signature. Seeing the following abbreviations after names are commonplace: M.S., D.O, F.A.A.P., B.A., C.C.L.S., C.I.M.I., M.D.
Well, since adding my own degree to my email signature at my new job people keep asking “What does the ‘M.Adv.’ stand for?” Well, let me once and for all answer what it stand for:
Master of Advertising (M.Adv.)
The M. stands for ‘Master’ as in ‘Master Degree’ and in comparison to other Master’s Degrees – especially in the marketing field – the Master of Advertising is very rare. This is because you can literally count the number of universities that award a real Master of Advertising (M.Adv.) degree on one hand. Want proof how rare the degree is? It’s not even mentioned in the Master’s degree article on Wikipedia! And, they even list the dangit “Master of Music (M.M. or M.Mus.)” degree…
This is because most universities do not treat Advertising as a separate discipline, but rather award a M.A. (Master of Arts) or M.S. (Master of Science) with a concentration in Advertising, but not the full M.Adv. (Master of Advertising) degree.
Please standby for a quick Gators shout out: I was lucky enough to attend the University of Florida where the M.Adv. degree is offered. And according to Google, UF is the best Master of Advertising program in the country. Why? Simple: Google “Master of Advertising” and the University of Florida is the first result you will find.
TL;DR
Most importantly, as you can find a M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration) on almost every corner my Master of Advertising (M.Adv.) degree in comparison is awesome.