How Shirley Polykoff Advertised her Hair Coloring Business: A Case Study
Shirley Polykoff,
How She Did Hair Coloring and Advertising
In the mid-1950s only actresses, models and other fast women dyed their hair; which means that only 7% of women in America went to hair salons to change the color of their hair.[1] Clairol, a small division of Bristol-Myers, was the first company to release a hair-dyeing product for women to use at home. This product had to find a way to change the way people thought about hair coloring. A junior copywriter at Foote, Cone & Belding named Shirley Polykoff introduced hair dye to women’s homes and made it normal for them to use this product. Her advertising campaign transformed hair coloring into a respectable action; women were now able to decide which hair color they wanted to have in an affordable way. Not only did she give power to women in the American culture, but also empowered women in the advertisement world. This copywriter was a role model in a field that, at that time, wasn’t open to either Jews or women. In 1955, Polykoff started working at Foote, Cone & Belding as a junior copywriter. She said in her autobiography, “the F.C.&B. copy chief came by, tossed some papers on my desk, and said, ‘Guess what, Polykoff, we just got the Clairol company. It’s yours, honey, on account [sic] you’re the only one around here who can write that kind of schmaltz.’”[2] While her boss thought it was not going to be an influential campaign, Polykoff knew this product and the campaign that it required would be revolutionary. In the ‘50s, there was a stigma to coloring your hair, therefore in 1956 Polykoff came up with a tagline that was “the perfect mix of discretion, independence and intrigue: “Does she…or doesn’t she?””[3] This tagline became a part of popular culture and increased Clairol’s sales, turning the hair dye market from a $25 million a year to a $200 million a year business within a decade. Shirley Polykoff knew that in order to open a market for this product, she first had to
How She Did Hair Coloring and Advertising
In the mid-1950s only actresses, models and other fast women dyed their hair; which means that only 7% of women in America went to hair salons to change the color of their hair.[1] Clairol, a small division of Bristol-Myers, was the first company to release a hair-dyeing product for women to use at home. This product had to find a way to change the way people thought about hair coloring. A junior copywriter at Foote, Cone & Belding named Shirley Polykoff introduced hair dye to women’s homes and made it normal for them to use this product. Her advertising campaign transformed hair coloring into a respectable action; women were now able to decide which hair color they wanted to have in an affordable way. Not only did she give power to women in the American culture, but also empowered women in the advertisement world. This copywriter was a role model in a field that, at that time, wasn’t open to either Jews or women. In 1955, Polykoff started working at Foote, Cone & Belding as a junior copywriter. She said in her autobiography, “the F.C.&B. copy chief came by, tossed some papers on my desk, and said, ‘Guess what, Polykoff, we just got the Clairol company. It’s yours, honey, on account [sic] you’re the only one around here who can write that kind of schmaltz.’”[2] While her boss thought it was not going to be an influential campaign, Polykoff knew this product and the campaign that it required would be revolutionary. In the ‘50s, there was a stigma to coloring your hair, therefore in 1956 Polykoff came up with a tagline that was “the perfect mix of discretion, independence and intrigue: “Does she…or doesn’t she?””[3] This tagline became a part of popular culture and increased Clairol’s sales, turning the hair dye market from a $25 million a year to a $200 million a year business within a decade. Shirley Polykoff knew that in order to open a market for this product, she first had to
Cited: "AAF Hall of Fame: Members, Shirley Polykoff." AAF Hall of Fame. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. . "Advertising: She Does." Time Magazine Aug.11 (1967). Time. CNN. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. . Bernstein, Lawrence. "Shirley Polykoff: Blonde Copywriters Have More Fun." Web. 14 Sept. 2010. . Fisher, Tessa. "Shirley Polykoff." Jewish Women 's Archive. Web. 27 Sept. 2010. . Garfield, Bob. And Now a Few Words from Me: Advertising Leading Critic Lays down the Law, Once and for All. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Print. Gladwell, Malcolm. "Annals of Advertising, “True Colors”." The New Yorker March.22 (1999): 70. Gladwell.com. Malcolm Gladwell. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. . Griggs, Robyn. "Clairol 's Off-Color Campaign Produced Lots of Green." Advertising Age March.29 (1999). LexisNexis Academic. Web. 20 Sept. 2010. . McDonough, John, and Karen Egolf. "Polykoff, Shirley 1908-1998: U.S. Advertising Copywriter." The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2003. 1252-254. Print. Polykoff, Shirley. "Making Hair Color Items 'OK for Nice Girls '" Advertising Age 68.4 (1997). Web. 27 Sept. 2010. . "Shirley Polykoff, the Patron Saint of Blonde Marketing." Web log post. Undercover Blonde. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. . Shoard, Katie. "Shirley Polykoff: Copy That Coloured a Nation." Red C - Direct Marketing Agency and Direct Response Advertising. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. . Sivulka, Juliann. "The Fabulous Fifties: Selling Mr. and Mrs. Consumer." Advertising & Society Review 9.4 (2008): 1-11. Project MUSE. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. . Thomas Jr., Robert McG. "Shirley Polykoff, 90, Ad Writer Whose Query Colored a Nation." The New York Times. 08 June 1998. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. . [2] McDonough, John, and Karen Egolf. "Polykoff, Shirley 1908-1998: U.S. Advertising Copywriter." The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising. (2003): 1253. [3] Shoard, Katie. "Shirley Polykoff: Copy That Coloured a Nation." Red C - Direct Marketing Agency and Direct Response Advertising. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. . [4] Gladwell, Malcolm. "Annals of Advertising, “True Colors”." The New Yorker (1999): 2. Gladwell.com. Malcolm Gladwell. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. . [7] McDonough, 1252. [8] Sivulka, Juliann. "The Fabulous Fifties: Selling Mr. and Mrs. Consumer." Advertising & Society Review (2008):8. Project MUSE. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. . [17] Garfield, Bob. And Now a Few Words from Me: Advertising Leading Critic Lays down the Law, Once and for All. New York: McGraw-Hill, (2003):89 [18] Ibid. [20] "AAF Hall of Fame: Members, Shirley Polykoff." AAF Hall of Fame. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. . [29] Polykoff, Shirley. "Making Hair Color Items 'OK for Nice Girls '" Advertising Age 68.4 (1997). Web. 27 Sept. 2010. .adage interview 1997 ----------------------- 1957, 1958, 1964.