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The mirror makers: A history of American advertising and its Creators

Fox, Stephen | William Morrow, 1984

 

pp. 230-231

David Ogilvie was fascinated by eye patches. When he used a white, Russian model for his new Hathaway Shirt line in 1951, he decided to photograph the guy with an eye patch! The ad, he thought, would have story appeal. People would wonder how the guy got it and why he was wearing it. ‘It is a small matter,’ said Ogilvie to Hathaway, ‘but it may make a big difference.’ ‘The client agreed, and ‘The man in the Hathaway Shirt was launched in the New Yorker of September 22, 1951. Soon the Hathaway company could not keep up with the demand for its shirts.’ Eventually the ads needed no copy at all, just the image.