Bonne Bell

[ModeloFreak]

Bonne Bell was a small family-owned and operated cosmetics firm near Cleveland, Ohio, at the time of these ads. The company built tremendous brand loyalty using marketing strategies that targeted very young teen and preteen girls (and their protective mothers). Rather than continuing to use the ubiquitous blond Ford Agency models (Cybill Shepherd, Susan Dey, Season Hubley, Shelley Hack, et al), they used the granddaughter of the firm's founder as the face of Bonne Bell in their advertisements for most of the 70s. Julie Bell was clearly identified in the ads as the daughter of the then-current company president, Jess Bell, Jr., who was also frequently mentioned. The campaign was an enormous success, and paid off handsomely. There was practically as much Ten-O-Six Lotion sold to teens and their moms back then as there was gasoline (this was before the age of ProActiv and retinol), ergo the 64-ounce bottles marketed in the ads, which then retailed for $30. This was a huge amount to pay for what was little more than alcohol and witch hazel; lots of hours of babysitting at 50 cents to a dollar an hour!

[NostalgiaNerd]

I grew up with Bonne Bell products and remember Julie Bell in the ads. Loved all the products including 10.0.6 and the giant sized Lip Smackers. Skin Musk and Gel Blush were also favorites amongst my sisters and mother. Probably one of the lines I continued to use for the decades to come and I even passed on the tradition to my daughter with Lip Smackers. It was pretty sad when the Bell family sold off the Bonne Bell name and Lip Smackers back in 2015. They still own Formula 10.0.6 though which is pretty neat and still make great products. Just wish they made something comparable to the original Lip Smackers.