1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,120 Speaker 1: Have you ever asked yourself if there's a limit to 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: your dreams? Maybe you think you're not talented enough, or 3 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: connected enough, or you're gonna have the right looks or 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:11,119 Speaker 1: background to make it to the top. Well, guess what, 5 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: You are only limited by yourself. None of the rest 6 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of it matters. And the person I'm going to tell 7 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: you about proves it. Ever heard these from the golden 8 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: age of Madison Avenue ad Agencies? I love New York. Oh, 9 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: I'm a bad voice. Sorry, PLoP plup, fizz fizz. Oh, 10 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:31,639 Speaker 1: what a relief it is. Well, they came from a 11 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: really surprising source. I'm Patty Steele. This kid from Youngstown, 12 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: Ohio became the most powerful and wealthiest woman in the 13 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 1: ad world at a time when women were not really welcome. 14 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: Mary Wells Lawrence believed in herself and the future. That's 15 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: next on the backstory. The backstory is back. Okay, you're 16 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: just a shy, middle class kid from Youngstown, Ohio. But 17 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: within a few decades you become the most powerful woman 18 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: in the ad industry's mad Men era with iconic ad campaigns, 19 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: and you have spectacular homes around the world and a 20 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: massive yacht in the Mediterranean sounds like my kind of life. 21 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: And imagine being a part of the impossibly glamorous world 22 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: of Madison Avenue advertising in the nineteen sixties and seventies. 23 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,119 Speaker 1: I love the show mad Men. You sort of get 24 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: a peak at all that glamour, but you also get 25 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: a peek at the prejudices that put up roadblocks for 26 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: so many talented people in those days. Mary Wells Lawrence 27 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 1: was one of them, but she wasn't going to let 28 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: anybody stop her. Mary created some of the most iconic 29 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: advertising of that time period. For Ford Quality is job 30 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: one for Alka Seltzer PLoP PLoP, phizz fizz. Oh, what 31 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: a relief it is, Midas Muffler Trust, the Midas Touch, 32 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: also Twa PanAm Hertz, IBM, Procter and Gamble, and notably 33 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: the State of New York. You know the tune I 34 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: Love New York. And she completely rebranded Braniff, an unsuccessful 35 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: regional airline, making it into the airline of the jet 36 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: set through brilliant advertising, fresh customer relations, and a colorful 37 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 1: makeover of its jets and flight attendant uniforms. Then she 38 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: married the CEO and continued to grow her own business. 39 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: She was the first woman to found own and run 40 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: a major ad agency, and the first female CEO of 41 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:33,519 Speaker 1: a company that traded on the New York Stock Exchanges 42 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: Big Board. Okay, now, let's go back to that shy 43 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: little girl. An only child growing up in a middle 44 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: class family in Youngstown, Ohio, a world away from all 45 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: the glitz of post World War II New York City. 46 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: Her dad sold furniture, and her mother wanted Mary to 47 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: be an actress, enrolling her in music, dance, and acting classes, all, 48 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: as it turned out, useful in the world of advertising. 49 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: In her late teens, her dad took married to New 50 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: York City to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Think 51 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: what that must have been like in nineteen forty five. 52 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: She'd never seen a person of color, a really big city, 53 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: or even an ocean before a year later, at eighteen, 54 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: she headed to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh 55 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: to study business. Eventually, while working as an ad copy 56 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: writer back in Youngstown, she got married and then divorced. 57 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: Several years later, she moved to New York City working 58 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: in Macy's ad department, and then came her career at 59 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: several iconic ad agencies. From there, she just kept moving up. 60 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 1: During those years, she and her team came up with 61 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: iconic ads, including one for Braniff, which at the time 62 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: was a struggling regional airline. The CEO asked her to 63 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: put Braniff in the news, and so that's what she did. 64 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: She said, Braniff's terminals looked like a prison camp, the 65 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: planes were drabbed, and flight attendants dressed like nurses. But 66 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: it was the nineteen sixties, and she said, I saw 67 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: Braniff in a wash of beautiful color. The airliners were 68 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: painted in those brilliant colors, interiors were redone in gorgeous 69 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: mods sixties fabrics. Terminal lounges were redesigned with primitive art, 70 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: and flight attendants were dressed in Emilio Pucci fashions, clothing 71 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,720 Speaker 1: and sexy designs, all in brilliant colors that were removed 72 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: in layers during the flights. An idea she called the airstrip. 73 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: Although they never got naked. The ad slogan the end 74 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: of the plane plane. Braniff suddenly became the airline of 75 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: the young jet set and had an eighty percent jump 76 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: in business. Mary thought she'd earned the right to be 77 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: her agency's president, and her CEO said, you're absolutely right. 78 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: We're going to give you all the decision making power 79 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: and the money of the president. But here's the thing, 80 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: You're a woman, and a woman president will scare clients away. 81 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: So she didn't get the title. Mary was livid. She 82 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,080 Speaker 1: said he could see that I was feeling a red rage, 83 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: and he said, you wouldn't want to ruin something you bill, 84 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: would you. That's when I just walked out the door. 85 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: I wanted my own agency. Her team went with her 86 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,720 Speaker 1: and they set up shop in a hotel suite. Pretty 87 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,239 Speaker 1: soon they had clients like Ford, IBM, Procter and Gamble, 88 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: American Motors, Cadbury, Schwebs, Hurts, Philip Morris and Pan MTWA, 89 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: and of course Braniff. She then married the brand of CEO. 90 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: Then came her most far reaching ad campaign of all. 91 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: It was I Love New York, which began in nineteen 92 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: seventy seven when the city was dangerous, filled with garbage 93 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: and graffiti, there was a serial killer running around, and 94 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: there was plenty of racial upset. To bring back tourism 95 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,920 Speaker 1: to the city and around New York State, Mary's company, 96 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: Wells Rich Green was hired along with a graphic designer 97 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: who came up with the heart logo to match the 98 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: slogan I love New York, says Mary. The first ad 99 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 1: we made ended with the actor Frank Langella as Dracula 100 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 1: outside of Broadway Theater where he was starring as that vampire. 101 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: He looked into the camera and he said, menacingly, I 102 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: love New York, especially in the evening. The ad campaign 103 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: was originally supposed to last just a few months, but 104 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: it went on for years. One of the most successful 105 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: in history, Mary Wells Lawrence came of age in an 106 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: era when deals were made in exclusive New York City restaurants, 107 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: spectacular seaside mansions in the Hamptons, and in the south 108 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 1: of France, where she and her husband owned a chateau, 109 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,920 Speaker 1: and where her pal, Princess Grace of Monaco would drop 110 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:39,039 Speaker 1: in to wow her clients. They spent a lot of 111 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: time on board their yacht, and in fact, after her 112 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: husband died in two thousand and two, she sold it 113 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: and bought a much bigger one, the one hundred and 114 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: fifty five foot yacht called Strange Love. Mary said, I 115 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: love to travel. I constantly want to learn things, learn 116 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: something each day that I didn't know yesterday. In nineteen seven, 117 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: she was named Woman of the Year by the American 118 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: Advertising Federation and inducted into the ad Hall of Fame. 119 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety nine, Adage called her advertising's most widely 120 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: publicized symbol of glamour, success, wealth, brains and beauty. And 121 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: she was tough. In the nineteen eighties, she survived both 122 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: uterine and breast cancer, but Mary Wells Lawrence continued to 123 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: believe in the future. One of my favorite stories about 124 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: her came from an interview in the New York Times 125 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: Real estate section. She was selling this incredible apartment she 126 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: lived in in New York because she wanted to move 127 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: to the UK. She said, all my life, I've been 128 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: where I was supposed to be. I always wanted to 129 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: live in London and never got the chance. So that's 130 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,320 Speaker 1: where I've bought a new place. Now here's the thing. 131 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: She was ninety one years old at the time of 132 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: that move, and she was looking toward the future. And 133 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: that is the way to live your life. You gotta 134 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: believe hope. You're enjoying the backstory with Patty Steele. Follow 135 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: or subscribe for free to get new episodes delivered automatically 136 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: and feel free to dm me if you have a 137 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: story you would like me to cover. On Facebook, It's 138 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. 139 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis 140 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: Duran Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. 141 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday 142 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 1: and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with 143 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:43,839 Speaker 1: comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty 144 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening 145 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history 146 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: you didn't know you needed to know.