Shirley Polykoff

SHIRLEY POLYKOFF ADVERTISING, INC.

At the age of 65 Shirley Polykoff became President of her own creative agency in 1973. She was concerned that clients would not want to do business with her once they became aware of her age. However, Ms. Polykoff successfully secured several notable clients prior to leaving Foote, Cone & Belding - Chantilly perfume and Maybelline cosmetics. And soon thereafter, Clairol gave her the Miss Clairol account (Cummings, 1985). Eventually she did creative work for a select group of clients, including: Houbigant Perfumes (Chantilly), Kimberly-Clark's New Freedom feminine pads by Kotex, Miss Clairol from Bristol-Myers, and the new line of Maybelline make-up from Schering-Plough (Polykoff, 1975).

Ray Betuel, from Foote, Cone & Belding, joined as art director, while Ms. Polykoff handled the writing. They had worked together successfully for years. Ms. Polykoff once said about their relationship, "But best of all was the way our dispositions meshed. He was tough in the office with himself and his staff where I was tough only with myself, milk-toasty with the staff. He was a doll with the clients, never rattled, always good-humored, where I was highly volatile" (Polykoff, 1975).

They rented a two-bedroom suite in the Drake Hotel as Shirley Polykoff & Betuel, Inc. to mixed reviews. Although these were expected to be temporary offices, their stay in the hotel stretched out for a year. Finally, in July 1973, Ms. Polykoff and Mr. Betuel found office space they felt suited their needs and was to their personal liking. The office was located in "small smart building on the most elegant business street in town... East 57th Street between Madison and Park avenues" (Polykoff, 1975).

Tragically, Ray Betuel died on February 6, 1974 as a result of cancer of the liver, which was the same illness that had plagued her husband years before. Ms. Polykoff felt much pain in the loss, as she had "not only lost a marvelously imaginative and resourceful business partner, but a friend she had worked with for almost twenty years." With the support of the staff, and her desire to "protect" her employees as Foote, Cone & Belding had done for her in the past, she managed to press forward through this very difficult time. Dick Huebner was subsequently hired as the new art director, who Ms. Polykoff described as one "whose taste and artistic inventiveness are wonderfully matched by his pleasant manner and generous disposition" (Polykoff, 1975).

After just over a decade, Shirley Polykoff Advertising, Inc. closed its doors in 1984 (Cummings, 1985).

~ Home ~ Table of Contents ~ Introduction ~ Family Life ~
~ Early Career ~ FC&B ~ Clairol ~ Miss Clairol Ads ~ S.P. Advertising ~
~ Ad Collection ~ Honors ~ Conclusion ~ Bibliography ~