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From the Archives: Miss Perfect Profile
Status: Advertising gimmick
Arthur Davis, who ran a New York-based model agency in the 1950s, hit upon a novel way to get his models featured in newspapers. He simply invented titles they had supposedly won, awarded by important-sounding but fictitious organizations. For instance, he might claim that one of his models had just been chosen "Miss Perfect Profile" by the "Plastic Surgeons Institute." Or that another had been chosen "Miss Secret Mission" by the "Canadian Northwest Mounties Organization." Newspapers would invariably run their photos. Shown is "Miss Perfect Profile." More info (and pictures of his models) in the hoaxipedia.I wonder what titles the Museum of Hoaxes could award? Miss Pareidolia? Miss Statement of Facts? Miss Informed?
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Categories: Advertising Posted by Alex on Fri Apr 18, 2008 |
Comments (7) |
| More from the Hoax Museum Archives: | |||
How about Miss Information?
J/P=?
Posted by John Paradox in Tucson, AZ on Fri Apr 18, 2008 at 08:17 PM
J/P=?
Miss Anthropy, Miss Creant, Miss Bent Youth, Miss Dabuss... stop me before I miss again
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 12:24 AM
Guys like Arthur Davis and Jim Moran used to be called "press agents." Today, they call them "guerrilla marketers." Language inflation.
Posted by Cranky Media Guy on Sun Apr 20, 2008 at 02:38 AM
Well, newspapers and magazines aren't exactly reluctant to run new pictures of pretty women, so it was a win-win proposition.
It would be interesting to know if he got any more pictures in the papers this way than he would have if he had simply sent the pictures without the bogus titles.
Come to think of it, beauty pageants like Miss Universe, Miss America, Miss Teen Arizona, etc., are really pretty much the same scheme.
Posted by Big Gary in Venus, Texas on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 05:08 PM
It would be interesting to know if he got any more pictures in the papers this way than he would have if he had simply sent the pictures without the bogus titles.
Come to think of it, beauty pageants like Miss Universe, Miss America, Miss Teen Arizona, etc., are really pretty much the same scheme.
Actually, the most interesting aspect of the entire thing has nothing to do with made-up titles. The photograph clearly shows the stunning difference between what was considered attractive in the 1950's compared to today. Right now, that woman would absolutely be considered a plus-size model or maybe the "before" picture in a Weight Watchers ad. It is a measure of how repellently and dangerously anorexic models have become today that this can possibly be true.
Posted by Anise in Nashville, TN on Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:11 PM
Anise, excellent point. Although slender girls were also featured in pinups, this lass is certainly what would not be considered glamourous today but would have been acceptable and even desirable back then.
Mind you, though she is is cute, she's not my type - Her feet are podgy and knobbly.
Posted by DFStuckey in Auckland New Zealand on Mon Aug 18, 2008 at 08:46 PM
Mind you, though she is is cute, she's not my type - Her feet are podgy and knobbly.
Well, newspapers and magazines aren't exactly reluctant to run new pictures of pretty women, so it was a win-win proposition.
Posted by luzy in usa on Tue Jun 21, 2011 at 03:59 AM
Comments: Page 1 of 1 pages