Marcella Jones Free (September 17, 1920 – November 23, 2007) was respected as one of the advertising industry's leading copywriters. She was a pioneering woman in the business and was the first female Creative Director at N. W. Ayer in Philadelphia in the 1940s. With her former husband, F. William Free, she created a number of famous and memorable campaigns for companies such as

Nescafé Nescafé is a brand of instant coffee sold by the multinational food and drink corporation Nestlé. It comes in many different forms. The name is a portmanteau of the words "Nestlé" and "café". Nestlé first introduced their flagship coffee br ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

, Purina, National Airlines,

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

and

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

, among others. One of her more memorable campaigns was a commercial for

Nair The Nair (, ) also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom hi ...

, featuring girls singing "Who wears short shorts? We wear short shorts! If you dare wear short shorts, Nair for short shorts." This song was based on the hit 1958 hit "

Short Shorts "Short Shorts" is a song written and performed by Tom Austin, Bill Crandell, Bill Dalton, and Bob Gaudio, members of The Royal Teens. It reached #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, U.S. R&B chart and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, U.S. pop chart in ...

" by

The Royal Teens The Royal Teens were an American rock and roll band that formed in New Jersey in 1956 and originally consisted of Bob Gaudio on piano, Tom Austin on drums, Billy Dalton on guitar, and Billy Crandall on saxophone. The group is best known for its ...

. She was a founding partner of the agency Avrett Free Ginsberg. She retired to her house in

Water Mill, New York Water Mill is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and a census-designated place (CDP) within the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, Town of Southampton, New York, Southampton on Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (s ...

, and died in

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Free, Marcella 1920 births 2007 deaths American women in business American copywriters American women copywriters