Helen Lansdowne Resor
Helen Bayless Lansdowne Resor (February 20, 1886 – January 2, 1964) was an American advertising executive with J. Walter Thompson Co.. A noted copywriter,[1] she was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 1967. She was named #14 on the list of 100 Advertising people of the 20th Century by Advertising Age.
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She is famous for introducing themes of sexual contact in magazine ads, especially "A skin you love to touch" ad. In 1911, the Woodbury Soap Company became the first to use images of sexual contact to sell a product. Her copy promised the soap would increase the beauty of one's skin; it offered a color print and a week's supply of the soap for 10 cents. The slogan became so popular that Woodbury used it until the 1940s. Albert Lasker said the ad's use of sex appeal made it one of three great landmarks in advertising history. It was ranked 31st on Advertising Age's list of the top 100 campaigns of the 20th century.[2]
She married Stanley B. Resor in 1917. He was the president of J. Walter Thompson and was also inducted into the Hall of Fame.[3]
Resor was also active in the suffrage movement.
Their son, Stanley R. Resor, was Secretary of the Army from 1965 until 1971.
See also
- Snake River Ranch, Resor's Wyoming vacation home on the National Register of Historic Places.
References
- ^ "The Greatest Copywriter," The New York Herald Tribune, January 3, 1964
- ^ See "Resor, Helen Lansdowne (1886-1964)" in Advertising Age Sept 15, 2003
- ^ Staff report (January 3, 1964). Mrs. Stanley Resor, Ex-Ad Executive, 77. New York Times.