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The Similarities and Differences Between True Colors and the Ketchup Conundrum by Malcolm Gladwell

Decent Essays

What the Dog Saw: and other Adventures Malcolm Gladwell is an English-Canadian journalists who wrote an extraordinary piece of work called “What the Dog Saw: and other Adventures.” In this book there are 19 stories, two specifically have a common theme these two stories are called the Ketchup Conundrum and True Colors. The Ketchup Conundrum discusses how diverse mustard is compared to ketchup. And True Colors on the other hand discusses how hair dye advertising shaped the 20th century stigma for women who were trying to hide the strands that they didn’t like. In the Ketchup Conundrum French’s mustard dominated the shelves; there was nothing else like it. So the Heublein Company wanted …show more content…

In True Colors women were realizing that they could control how others viewed themselves. In the 1950’s and 1960’s Clairol hired a copywriter by the name of Shirley Polykoff who created a brilliant campaign which asked “does she or doesn’t she”(Gladwell 79)? This slogan was effective and unforgettable. Clairol then produced an at home color bath that became a breakthrough in the American beauty industry; it was an all in one product. During this time women weren’t as open as they are now about dyeing their hair. This made people wonder “does she or doesn’t she” color her hair?” (Gladwell 77) No one could tell it was like nothing they had ever seen before. The other copywriter was for L’Oreal, the women’s name was Ilon Specht. She understood what the consumer wanted and introduced the phrase “because I’m worth it”(Gladwell 98) She wanted people to know that they do have an opinion, a choice and a role in society. Herta Zong soon after came into the picture who conducted motivational research on people. In order for advertisers to get on a psychological level they must understand that consumers build a relationship with their product because they begin to trust and rely on it. People like routines and products are part of a routine; most people rarely get out of routines because they don’t like change. Which means that people do form bonds with their

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