Clairol is a personal care products division of Procter & Gamble. The Clairol company was started in 1931 by an entrepreneurial chemist and his wife who named their enterprise after a hair-coloring preparation they found while traveling in France. In the 1950s, after two decades of selling the company’s hair tint to beauty salons, Clairol became a household name when it launched the first one-step home hair color formula, Miss Clairol Hair Color Bath, which debuted with the now-famous catchphrase, “Does she…or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.” Within six years of Miss Clairol’s launch, 70% of women were coloring their hair.

With a shampoo-in hair color and a memorable catchphrase, Clairol captured the feminist sensibilities of the day, wrote Malcom Gladwell, author of social-psychology bestsellers The Tipping Point and Blink, in “True Colors,” a 1999 New Yorker article about the hidden history of hair dye. He posited: “In writing the history of women in the postwar era, did we forget something important? Did we leave out hair?”

Today Clairol makes hair coloring, hair spray, shampoo, hair conditioner and styling consumables and publishes a free beauty magazine called Color Source. Among its brands are Balsam Color, Herbal Essences, Hydrience, Loving Care, Natural Instincts, Nice ’n Easy and Ultress. (See the “Clairol Products” section below for a complete list.)

Alex’s Industry Makeover

In 1956 Clairol launched an at-home version of Miss Clairol hair color, promoted by one of the most effective advertising campaigns of the time, "Does she…or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure."

In 1957 the Gelbs sold their company to Bristol-Myers. Sons Bruce and Richard L. Gelb filled executive positions at that pharmaceutical company; Richard became chief executive officer in 1972. Bristol-Myers merged with Squibb Corporation to form Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Richard Gelb remained the merged company's CEO until 1993. Procter & Gamble purchased the Clairol division from Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2001 for $4.95 billion.

Clairol’s Colourful Advertising History

Clairol hired the advertising firm Foote, Cone & Belding, which assigned the account to a junior copywriter, Shirley Polykoff, who was also the sole female copywriter at the firm. It was her future mother-in-law who inspired the now-famous “Does she…or doesn’t she?” catchphrase. After meeting Polykoff for the first time, she took her son aside and grilled him about the true hue of his girlfriend’s tresses. “Does she color her hair? Or doesn’t she?” the humiliated Polykoff could imagine her mother-in-law-to-be asking.

In fact, Polykoff did, though the practice was not something to which women openly admitted during the Depression, when her future mother-in-law first posed the question. Even by 1956, when Polykoff was assigned the Clairol campaign, hair dye was still considered something only tawdry women used.

To counter the stigma of hair color and create a wholesome image for Clairol, early print ads—some of which were shot by fashion photographers Richard Avedon and Irving Penn—featured girl-next-door-ish models accompanied by children sporting locks of the same shade. The idea was to skew toward the sentimental, not the tawdry.

“Does she…or doesn’t she?” became one of the most effective campaigns of the time: Within six years, 70% of all adult women were coloring their hair, and Clairol’s sales increased 413%. In 1967 Polykoff was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.

In addition, the company gained notoriety in the late 90s/early 2000s for its ads for Clairol Herbal Essences shampoo. Proclaimed as 'a totally organic experience', the ads would often feature women washing their hair while making noises similar to those of someone in the stage of orgasm.

More Iconic Catchphrases

When the company introduced Nice ’n Easy, the first at-home shampoo-in hair color, women were told, “The closer he gets, the better you look.”

Other Clairol catchphrases include “Some lucky girls are born red. Others catch up.” (Radiantly Red), and “If I’ve only one life to live, let me live it as a blonde.”

Clairol’s “Does she…or doesn’t she?” legacy continues today: Recently it was one of the big brand campaigns featured in 2008 at “The Real Men and Women of Madison Avenue and Their Impact on American Culture” exhibit at the New York Public Library’s Science, Industry and Business Library.

Corporate History

Clairol Products

External links

Category:Companies established in 1931 Category:Companies based in Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:Procter & Gamble brands Category:Hairdressing

Personal life

Kinsey studied English at Baylor University, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority, "took as many theatre classes as possible", and participated in the "Baylor in London" program. In a 2007 interview with the Baylor student newspaper, she discussed the influence of her years at the university:

Kinsey served as an intern on the NBC late night talk show ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', which she described as an "awesome" experience. She worked for the show's drummer Max Weinberg. The experience inspired Kinsey to take a coast-to-coast road trip with a friend from New York City to California.

She married Warren Lieberstein on June 18, 2000. He is the brother of Paul Lieberstein, who plays Toby Flenderson on ''The Office''. She gave birth to their first child, Isabel Ruby Lieberstein, on May 3, 2008. Present at the hospital was co-star Jenna Fischer. On February 18, 2009, ''Us Weekly'' reported that Kinsey and her husband had separated. Her representative stated that the two continue to be friends. In June 2010, it was announced that Kinsey had filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences."

Blogging as her ''The Office'' character, Angela Martin, she has stated on MySpace that her hero is co-star Kate Flannery.

Kinsey said her grandmother, Lena May, does not watch ''The Office'' because she feels the protagonist Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, is too "vulgar". Kinsey said, "She'll say to me, 'Baby, we're so proud of you, I'm proud of you, but I do not care for the show and I do not watch it.'"

Kinsey is Presbyterian and attends Bel-Air Presbyterian Church.

Kinsey’s character on ''The Office'' feeds feral cats in the office parking lot. In real life, Kinsey supports Alley Cat Allies, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to transforming communities to protect and improve the lives of cats.

Career

Following a two-woman show at iO, she was an operator at 1-800-Dentist and made small one-episode appearances in various sitcoms. She voiced the character "Angela" on two episodes of ''King of the Hill''. In early 2005, she auditioned for the role of receptionist Pam Beesly for the American version of ''The Office''. After producers told her she was "a little too feisty for Pam", she was called back to audition for the role of Angela Martin, which she won. She also appeared on ''Monk'' as a murderer named Arlene Boras in ''Mr. Monk and the Naked Man'' (2007) and ''Mr. Monk's 100th Case'' (2008).

In June 2007, Kinsey shared in the Daytime Emmy Award "Outstanding Broadband Program - Comedy", for her work on ''The Office: Accountants'', which is a series of webisodes.

Kinsey is one of several cast members of ''The Office'' to have a role in ''License to Wed'', a film directed by Ken Kwapis, who often directs episodes of ''The Office''.

Kinsey updates her MySpace blog with behind-the-scenes anecdotes of upcoming episodes of the series. She has also taken to organizing ''The Office'' cast outings: "I remember watching ''Friends'' and thinking, 'They really enjoy each other.' We, in fact, hang out". She is the new spokesperson for Clairol hair products, appearing in television ads recently for Clairol Nice 'n Easy.

Television Career and Filmography

References

External links

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Messing has been nominated for a total of six Emmy Awards, eight Golden Globe Awards and eight Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2003 she eventually won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in ''Will & Grace''.

Early life

During her high school years, she acted and sang in a number of high school productions at East Greenwich High School, including the starring roles in the musicals ''Annie'' and ''Grease''. She took lessons in dance, singing, and acting. In 1986, she was Rhode Island's Junior Miss and competed in Mobile, Alabama in the America's Junior Miss scholarship program. While her parents encouraged her dream of becoming an actress, they also urged her to complete a liberal arts education before deciding on acting as a career. Following their advice, she attended Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. During her junior year, she studied theater at the prestigious London-based British European Studio Group program, an experience that solidified her desire to act.

In 1990, after graduating ''summa cum laude'' from Brandeis University with a bachelor's degree in theater arts, Messing gained admission to the elite Graduate Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts which accepts approximately fifteen new students annually. She earned a Master's Degree in Fine Arts after three years.

Career

In 1993, Messing won praise for her acting in the pre-Broadway workshop production of Tony Kushner's play ''Angels in America: Perestroika''. Subsequently, she appeared in several episodes of the television series ''NYPD Blue'' during 1994 and 1995.

In 1995, Messing made her film debut in Alfonso Arau's ''A Walk in the Clouds'' playing the unfaithful wife of main character Paul Sutton (Keanu Reeves). This exposure led the Fox network to make her the co-star of the television sitcom, ''Ned & Stacey''. The series lasted for two seasons, from 1995 to 1997. Messing appeared as Jerry Seinfeld's date in two episodes of the series ''Seinfeld'': "The Wait Out" in 1996 and "The Yada Yada" in 1997. Messing turned down a starring role in another television sitcom to appear in Donald Margulies's two-character play ''Collected Stories'', which opened at the Off Broadway Manhattan Theater Club. She also co-starred in the Tom Arnold vehicle ''McHale's Navy'' in 1997.

In 1998, Messing played a lead role as the bio-anthropologist Sloan Parker on ABC's dramatic science fiction television series ''Prey''. During this time her agent approached her with the pilot script for the television show ''Will & Grace''. Messing was inclined to take some time off, but the script intrigued her, and she auditioned for the role of Grace Adler, beating out Nicollette Sheridan, who later guest-starred on the show as a romantic rival of Grace's. ''Will & Grace'' became a ratings success, and Messing became a star.

In 2002, she was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by ''People Magazine''. ''TV Guide'' picked her as its "Best Dressed Woman" in 2003. Messing was cast by director Woody Allen in a small role in his 2002 film ''Hollywood Ending''. Her film roles since include a happily married but ill-fated wife in the supernatural thriller ''The Mothman Prophecies'' (2002) and a supporting role in ''Along Came Polly'' (2004). ''The Wedding Date'' (2005) was Messing's first leading role in a high-profile film. It received mixed reviews but performed fairly well at the box office. Messing was featured as a judge on the season finale of the second season of Bravo's reality show, ''Project Runway''. Also in 2005, along with Megan Mullaly, she was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television She also starred in the television mini-series ''The Starter Wife'', which was nominated for ten Emmy awards including one for Messing for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie.

In 2008, Messing reprised her role as Molly Kagan in the television series ''The Starter Wife'', consisting of 10 episodes. In early 2010, Messing starred in the ABC comedy pilot ''Wright vs. Wrong'' for the 2010-2011 primetime season but the pilot was not picked up by ABC.

In early 2011, it was announced that Messing will star in a new NBC musical pilot called ''Smash'' for the 2011-2012 primetime season. In May 2011, it was reported that NBC had picked up the show as a series for the 2011-2012 season.

In 2011, Messing was ranked #22 on the TV Guide Network special, ''Funniest Women on TV''

Personal life

Filmography

References

External links

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