Shirley Polykoff (January 18, 1908 – June 4, 1998) was a pioneering woman in
American advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
, rising from an entry-level copywriter to a senior executive. Her "Does She... Or Doesn't She?" branding slogan accompanied by "Hair Color So Natural Only Her Hairdresser Knows For Sure"
tagline
In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, s ...
developed in 1956 for
Clairol
Clairol is the American personal care-product division of company Wella, specializing in hair coloring and hair care. Clairol was founded in 1931 by Americans Joan Gelb and her husband Lawrence M. Gelb, with business partner and lifelong frie ...
dramatically increased sales, changed cultural norms, and earned her a place in the
Advertising Hall of Fame The Advertising Hall of Fame, operated by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), began in 1948 as a result of a proposal by the New York Ad Club and its president, Andrew Haire, to the Advertising Federation of America, the predecessor organiza ...
.
Biography
Born to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
, she started her career in retail ad sales and briefly worked as secretary at
Harper's Bazaar before taking a position at
Foote, Cone & Belding advertising agency.
In 1955 she took over the Clairol account, and her advertising campaign, which became a classic, helped take hair color sales from $25 million to $200 million annually, with Clairol holding a 50%
market share. Even though her creative work encouraged women to take charge of their own lives, she did not want to be seen earning more than her lawyer husband, George P. Halperin and insisted that her advertising agency cap her salary at $25,000 a year.
Upon the death of her spouse, her salary was doubled twice in less than ten years. She retired in 1973 from Foote, Cone & Belding after becoming FCB's executive vice president and creative director.
Advertising Hall of Fame: Shirley Polykoff
/ref>
She was #24 on the ''Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mu ...
'' 100 people of the 20th century and is very likely the model for the character Peggy Olson
Margaret "Peggy" Olson is a fictional character and the female lead of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'', and is portrayed by Elisabeth Moss. Initially, Peggy is secretary to Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director of the advertising agency ...
in the TV series Mad Men
''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its ...
.
References
External links
Shirley Polykoff
via Advertising Hall of Fame
via ''Advertising Age''
The One Club for Creativity biography and portrait
1908 births
1998 deaths
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American businesspeople
Women in advertising
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