1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,080 Speaker 1: Have you ever asked yourself if there's a limit to 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: your dreams? Maybe you think you're not talented enough or 3 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,560 Speaker 1: connected enough. Are you're going to have the right looks 4 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: or background to make it to the top. Well, guess what, 5 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: You are only limited by yourself. None of the rest 6 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:17,920 Speaker 1: of it matters. And the person I'm going to tell 7 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: you about proves it. Ever heard these from the golden 8 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: age of Madison Avenue ad agencies? I love New York. Oh, 9 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: I'm a bad voice. Sorry, PLoP plup, fizz fizz. Oh 10 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: what a relief it is. Well, they came from a 11 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: really surprising source. I'm Patty Steele. This kid from Youngstown, 12 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: Ohio became the most powerful and wealthiest woman in the 13 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: ad world at a time when women who are not 14 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: really welcome. Mary Wells Lawrence believed in herself and the future. 15 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: That's next on the backstory. The backstory is back. Okay, 16 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: you're just a shy, middle class kid from Youngstown, Ohio. 17 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: But within a few decades you become the most powerful 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: woman in the ad industry's mad Men era with iconic 19 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: ad campaigns, and you have spectacular homes around the world 20 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: and a massive yacht in the Mediterranean sounds like my 21 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: kind of life. And imagine being a part of the 22 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: impossibly glamorous world of Madison Avenue advertising in the nineteen 23 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: sixties and seventies. I love the show mad Men. You 24 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: sort of get a peak at all that glamour, but 25 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: you also get a peek at the prejudices that put 26 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: up roadblocks for so many talented people in those days. 27 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: Mary Wells Lawrence was one of them, but she wasn't 28 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: going to let anybody stop her. Mary created some of 29 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: the most iconic advertising of that time period. For Ford 30 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: Quality is job one for Alka Seltzer PLoP PLoP, phizz phizz. Oh, 31 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,559 Speaker 1: what a relief it is, Midas Muffler Trust, the Midas Touch, 32 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: also Twa pan am Hertz, IBM, Procter and Gamble, and 33 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: notably the State of New York. You know the tune 34 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: I Love New York. And she completely rebranded Braniff, an 35 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: unsuccessful regional airline, making it into the airline of the 36 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: jet set through brilliant advertising, fresh customer relations, and a 37 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,639 Speaker 1: colorful makeover of its jets and flight attendant uniforms. Then 38 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: she married the CEO and continued to grow her own business. 39 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: She was the first woman to found own and run 40 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: a major ad agency, and the first female CEO of 41 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: a company that traded on the New York Stock Exchanges 42 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 1: Big Board. Okay, now, let's go back to that shy 43 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: little girl. An only child growing up in a middle 44 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: class family in Youngstown, Ohio, a world away from all 45 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,079 Speaker 1: the glitz of post World War II New York City. 46 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: Her dad sold furniture, and her mother wanted Mary to 47 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: be an actress, enrolling her in music, dance, and acting classes, all, 48 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: as it turned out, useful in the world of advertising. 49 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: In her late teens, her dad took Mary to New 50 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: York City to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Think 51 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: what that must have been like in nineteen forty five. 52 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: She'd never seen a person of color, a really big city, 53 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,679 Speaker 1: or even an ocean before a year later, at eighteen, 54 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: she headed to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh 55 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: to study business. Eventually, while working as an ad copy 56 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: writer back in Youngstown, she got married and then divorced. 57 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: Several years later, she moved to New York City working 58 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: in Macy's ad department, and then came her career at 59 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: several iconic ad agencies. From there, she just kept moving up. 60 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: During those years, she and her team came up with 61 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: iconic ads, including one for Braniff, which at the time 62 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: was a struggling regional airline. The CEO asked her to 63 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: put Braniff in the news, and so that's what she did. 64 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: She said, Braniff's terminals looked like a prison camp, the 65 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: planes were drab, and flight attendants dressed like nurses. But 66 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: it was the nineteen sixties, and she said, I saw 67 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: Braniff in a wash of beautiful color. The airliners were 68 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: painted in those brilliant colors, interiors were redone in gorgeous 69 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: mods sixties fabrics, Terminal lounges were redesigned with primitive art, 70 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: and flight attendants were dressed in Emilio Pucci fashions, clothing 71 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 1: and sexy designs, all in brilliant colors that were removed 72 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: in layers during the flights. An idea she called the airstrip. 73 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: Although they never got naked. The ad slogan the end 74 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: of the plane plane. Braniff suddenly became the airline of 75 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: the young jet set and had an eighty percent jump 76 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: in business. Mary thought she'd earned the right to be 77 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: her agency's president and her CEO said, you're absolutely right. 78 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: We're going to give you all the decision making power 79 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: and the money of the president. But here's the thing. 80 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: You're a woman, and a woman president will scare clients away. 81 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: So she didn't get the title. Mary was livid. She 82 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: said he could see that I was feeling a red 83 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: rage and he said and said, you wouldn't want to 84 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: ruin something you Bill, would you. That's when I just 85 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: walked out the door. I wanted my own agency. Her 86 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: team went with her and they set up shop in 87 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: a hotel suite. Pretty Soon they had clients like Ford, IBM, 88 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: Procter and Gamble, American Motors, Cadbury, Schweps, Hurts, Philip Morris 89 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: and Pan MTWA and of course Branif. She then married 90 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: the brand of CEO. Then came her most far reaching 91 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: ad campaign of all. It was I Love New York, 92 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: which began in nineteen seventy seven when the city was dangerous, 93 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 1: filled with garbage and graffiti, there was a serial killer 94 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,839 Speaker 1: running around, and there was plenty of racial upset. To 95 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,919 Speaker 1: bring back tourism to the city and around New York State, 96 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,279 Speaker 1: Mary's company, Wells Rich Green was hired along with a 97 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: graphic designer who came up with the heart logo to 98 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: match the slogan I love New York, says Mary. The 99 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: first ad we made ended with the actor Frank Langella 100 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: as Dracula outside of Broadway Theater, where he was starring 101 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: as that vampire. He looked into the camera and he said, menacingly, 102 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: I love New York, especially in the evening. The ad 103 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 1: campaign was originally supposed to last just a few months, 104 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: but it went on for years. One of the most 105 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: successful in history. Mary Wells Lawrence came of age in 106 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 1: an era when deals were made in exclusive New York 107 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:27,919 Speaker 1: City restaurants, spectacular seaside mansions in the Hamptons, and in 108 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: the south of France, where she and her husband owned 109 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: a chateau, and where her pal, Princess Grace of Monaco 110 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,160 Speaker 1: would drop in to wow her clients. They spent a 111 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 1: lot of time on board their yacht, and in fact, 112 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: after her husband died in two thousand and two, she 113 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: sold it and bought a much bigger one, the one 114 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty five foot yacht called Strange Love. Mary said, 115 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: I love to travel. I constantly want to learn things 116 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: learn something each day that I didn't know yesterday. In 117 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one, she was named Woman of the Year 118 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,719 Speaker 1: by the American Advertising Federation and inducted into the ad 119 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 1: Hall of Fame. In nineteen ninety nine, ad Age called 120 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: her advertising's most widely publicized symbol of glamour, success, wealth, 121 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: brains and beauty, and she was tough. In the nineteen eighties, 122 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: she survived both uterine and breast cancer, but Mary Wells 123 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: Lawrence continued to believe in the future. One of my 124 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: favorite stories about her came from an interview in the 125 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: New York Times Real estate section. She was selling this 126 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: incredible apartment she lived in in New York because she 127 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 1: wanted to move to the UK. She said, all my life, 128 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: I've been where I was supposed to be. I always 129 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: wanted to live in London and never got the chance. 130 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: So that's where I've bought a new place. Now here's 131 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: the thing. She was ninety one years old at the 132 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: time of that move, and she was looking toward the future. 133 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: And that is the way to live your life. You 134 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: gotta believe hope. You're enjoying the backstory with Patty Steele, 135 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 1: Follow or subscribe for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, 136 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: and feel free to dm me if you have a 137 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: story you would like me to cover. On Facebook, It's 138 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. 139 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis 140 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. 141 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday 142 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with 143 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty 144 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening 145 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history 146 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: you didn't know you needed to know.