Ilon Specht rebelled against her patriarchal male colleagues at an advertising agency by writing a successful television commercial for L'Oréal's Preference hair color product that conveyed an enduring message of feminist empowerment. He died on April 20th at his son's home in Barrington, Rhode Island. Near Providence. She was 81 years old.
Her son, Brady Case, said the cause was complications from endometrial cancer.
That was in 1973. Ms. Specht was a copywriter at the McCann Erickson (now McCann) agency in Manhattan. L'Oréal was using a relatively new product, Her Preference, to counter the market dominance of Clairol's Her Nice 'n Easy. It took her a month for the agency's team to create a campaign to replace the canceled one.
“We were sitting in this big office and we were all talking about what we should do with advertising,” Specht told The New Yorker's Malcolm Gladwell in 1999. curtain. You know, he's one of those fake places with big ornate curtains. The woman was a complete object. I don't think she spoke. They just didn't understand it. ”
“They” were men who wanted traditional advertising, and she failed them. She wrote the commercial in about five minutes while she cursed at herself in anger.
“I use the world's most expensive hair color,” the ad began. “I like L'Oreal. It's not about money. It's about caring about your hair. It's not just about color. I expect great color. What's more valuable to me is… The feel of the hair is smooth and silky but feels good on the neck.Actually, I don't mind spending more money for L'Oreal.
Specht recalled those words and repeated them during an interview with The New Yorker. And then she landed on her catchphrase.
“'Because it's me' — and here Specht clenches his fist and pounds his chest — 'it's worth it,'” Gladwell wrote.
However, although the campaign was approved, two versions were filmed. One is what Ms. Specht became known as, and the second, at the urging of Ms. Specht's male colleague, rewritten her words and was passed on to her by a man on a walk. A woman looks at him lovingly in a meadow. She remains silent except for a chuckle.
“The truth is, she doesn't mind spending more money for L'Oréal, because she's worth it,” he says.
That version (which was never implemented) was all wrong, Ms. Specht said in director Ben Proudfoot's upcoming short documentary, “The Final Copy of Ilon Specht.”
“This was not for men, it was for women and other human beings,” she said.
The phrase “I'm worth it” has been used in L'Oréal advertising and branding for decades (“You're worth it”, “We're worth it”). ”) has been adjusted. Model and actress Joan Dussault was the first to say these words in a commercial. She was followed by Cybill Shepherd, Meredith Baxter, Kate Winslet, Andie MacDowell, Gwen Stefani and Beyoncé.
“'I'm worth it,'” Winslet said in a 2022 L'Oréal promotional video. “I'm worth it.” Those words are magic. ”
L'Oréal Paris and McCann Worldgroup paid tribute to Mr. Specht in a full-page ad that ran in the style section of the New York Times on May 5th.
“Her powerful words challenged beauty industry standards from within and inspired women to recognize their true worth,” it reads in part.
Irene Joy Specht was born on April 19, 1943 in Brooklyn. Her father, Sanford, owned a furniture store. Her mother, Annette (Jacobs) Specht, worked with him.
Irene enrolled at Syracuse University at age 16 and transferred to UCLA when her family moved to Los Angeles. She was expelled along with her roommate after her roommate's boyfriend was discovered in her dorm room.
Specht was still a teenager when she started working in advertising, first as a secretary and then as a copywriter. By then she had changed her name to Elon – a kind of rebranding, her son said. She worked at her agencies Young & Rubicam and Jack Tinker & Partners, and was eventually hired by McCann Erickson, where she joined shortly before starting work in advertising for L'Oréal. did.
“She was a very genuine person,” Michael Sennott, an account executive at McCann Erickson who worked with Specht on the L'Oréal campaign, said in a phone interview. He further added, “Either there are writers who can imitate current trends, or current trends are who they are. She represents exactly what is happening in society, especially in the women's world.'' Ta.”
She left McCann Erickson around 1974 and joined Jordan McGrath Case & Partners.
As the agency's creative director, Mr. Specht was responsible for Life Cereal (one ad featuring several children included the phrase, “If it's not weird, kids will eat it”). She oversaw campaigns for clients such as and pantyhose brand Underalls. The product promised women no panty lines and had the tagline, “It'll make it look like she's not wearing anything.”
She rose to executive vice president and executive creative director, but left in 2000 when the agency was acquired by Havas Advertising.
“She was not part of the group that orchestrated the sale and saw this as a betrayal,” Case said in an interview.
Mr. Specht opened an antiques store in Ojai, California, but kept the apartment in Manhattan's Dakota that he had bought in 1976.
In addition to her son, she is survived by a stepdaughter, Alison Case; She is survived by two stepsons, Timothy and Christopher Case; two grandchildren; and her sister Meredith Schiller. Burton Blum's marriage to Eugene Case, founder of Jordan McGrath Case, ended in her divorce.
“The Last Copy of Ylon Specht'' tells the dual story of a L'Oréal advertisement and Mr. Specht's loving relationship with his stepdaughter.・He is depicted talking about Mr. Specht. The message of her commercial.
“This is about people, not advertising,” she says. “It means caring about others, because either we all deserve it or none of us deserve it.”