Maybelline’s advertising campaigns have been a cornerstone of its success,

Evolving from simple print ads to sophisticated, multi-platform efforts that blend celebrity star power, cultural resonance, and digital innovation. Below is a look at some standout campaigns across its history, highlighting their creativity, execution, and impact.

Early Campaigns (1915–1930s)

• “Eyes that Charm” (1917–1920s)
  • Format: Print

    

    
    

    

    
    

    

    
    

    

    
    

    

    
    

    

    
    

    

    
    

    

    
    

    

    
    ads in magazines like Photoplay and Motion Picture Classic.
  • Details: Launched with the introduction of Maybelline Cake Mascara, these ads featured silent film actresses like Phyllis Haver and Viola Dana applying mascara with a wet brush. The tagline “Eyes that Charm” promised everyday women the glamour of Hollywood. Black-and-white illustrations showed dramatic before-and-after lash transformations.
  • Impact: Tied Maybelline to the flapper era’s makeup revolution, driving mail-order sales and establishing its beauty credentials. Founder Tom Lyle Williams spent heavily—up to $1 million by 1929—making it a household name.
• Radio Sponsorships (1930s)
  • Format: Audio ads and show sponsorships.
  • Details: Maybelline pioneered cosmetic radio advertising, sponsoring programs like soap operas and music hours. Spots emphasized ease of use and affordability, with jingles touting “beautiful eyes with Maybelline.”
  • Impact: Reached a mass audience beyond print readers, cementing its drugstore presence as sales soared.

Mid-Century Highlights (1940s–1970s)

• “Make Your Eyes a Feature Attraction” (1950s)
  • Format: TV commercials and magazine spreads.
  • Details: Post-WWII, Maybelline embraced television with ads showcasing liquid eyeliner and mascara. Actresses like Joan Caulfield demonstrated application, paired with slogans like “Make Your Eyes a Feature Attraction.” Bright, colorful visuals highlighted new shades like blue eye shadow.
  • Impact: Capitalized on the 1950s beauty boom, aligning with the era’s polished femininity and boosting drugstore sales.
• Great Lash Launch (1971)
  • Format: Print, TV, and in-store displays.
  • Details: The debut of Great Lash Mascara featured its now-iconic pink-and-green tube in bold ads with models sporting lush lashes. The tagline “Great Lash. Great Price.” emphasized affordability, while TV spots showed quick application for busy women.
  • Impact: Became a cultural phenomenon—still selling a tube every 1.7 seconds today—thanks to consistent branding and mass-market appeal.

Modern Classics (1990s–Present)

• “Maybe She’s Born With It. Maybe It’s Maybelline” (1991–Ongoing)
  • Format: TV, print, billboards, and later digital.
  • Details: Introduced by agency McCann Erickson pre-L’Oréal acquisition, this campaign featured supermodels like Christy Turlington and Adriana Lima in sleek, aspirational ads. The playful tagline suggested natural beauty enhanced by Maybelline, shot in chic urban settings to match the “New York” rebrand (1996). It evolved with stars like Gigi Hadid and Emily DiDonato, plus diverse faces like South Sudanese model Adut Akech.
  • Impact: One of the longest-running slogans in advertising, it’s instantly recognizable, boosting brand equity and global sales (L’Oréal’s 2023 report cites €14.9 billion for its consumer division).
• “That Boss Life” (2017)
  • Format: YouTube, Instagram, and X.
  • Details: Maybelline broke ground by naming male beauty influencer Manny Gutierrez (Manny MUA) and Shayla Mitchell as ambassadors for SuperStay Matte Ink Lipstick. The campaign’s mini-movie, set in a luxe NYC hotel, showed them applying bold shades like “Lover” and “Pioneer,” with a catchy jingle: “Boss up with Maybelline!” It leaned hard into influencer culture and inclusivity.
  • Impact: Went viral with millions of views, earning praise for gender diversity and racking up engagement—e.g., X posts from fans like

    @MeghanAlexis16

    echo its lipstick hype.
• “Fit Me” Foundation (2010s)
  • Format: TV, social media, and influencer collabs.
  • Details: Launched to rival high-end foundations, Fit Me boasted 40+ shades for all skin tones. Ads featured real women alongside stars like Ashley Graham, with YouTubers like Jackie Aina showcasing matches for darker complexions. The tagline “Find Your Fit” invited personalization, amplified by TikTok tutorials.
  • Impact: Positioned Maybelline as inclusive and affordable, driving sales among Millennials and Gen Z—shade range expansions now rival luxury brands.
• “Makeup That Lasts” (2020s)
  • Format: TikTok, Instagram Reels, and X.
  • Details: Promoting long-wear products like SuperStay Foundation, this campaign used hashtag challenges (#MakeupThatLasts) encouraging users to test durability—sweat, rain, or 24-hour wear. Influencers like NikkieTutorials joined in, while X buzz from users like

    @SWMaybelline

    tied it to everyday life.
  • Impact: High engagement (20–30% above industry norms per AdAge, 2022), reinforcing Maybelline’s practical glamour for a digital-first audience.

Tactical Brilliance

• Celebrity Power: From Viola Dana to Gigi Hadid, Maybelline’s ambassadors bridge aspiration and relatability, evolving with cultural shifts—e.g., Manny MUA for inclusivity.
• Visual Identity: Bold packaging (Great Lash’s pink-green) and sleek ad aesthetics make it instantly recognizable.
• Digital Agility: TikTok challenges and X mentions keep it trending, while AR filters (e.g., virtual try-ons via L’Oréal’s Modiface) merge tech with beauty.
• Affordability Messaging: Every campaign underscores value—drugstore prices with premium vibes—key to its mass appeal.

Maybelline’s campaigns don’t just sell makeup—they shape beauty culture, from flapper lashes to TikTok trends, proving adaptability is their real superpower.

Miss Maybelline, Evelyn Williams, arson related death is still possible to solve 45 years later

https://www.maybellinebook.com/2024/11/httpsyoutu.html?m=1

6 episodes of The Coroner's Report Podcast reveal clues on what really happened to Miss Maybelline in Hot Springs Arkansas. 46 Years ago.

Forensic advancements since 1978 could significantly impact the investigation into Evelyn Williams’ death in Hot Springs, Arkansas, potentially shedding new light on the unsolved arson-homicide. The original case stalled due to limited technology and degraded evidence, but modern tools—developed over the last four decades—offer powerful ways to revisit the fire, the missing bonds, and the circumstances of her death. Here’s how these advancements could reshape the investigation if applied today, as of March 2, 2025.

1. Arson Analysis: Enhanced Fire Investigation Techniques

1978 Limitations: Back then, arson detection relied on visual burn patterns, basic chemical tests for accelerants (e.g., gas chromatography), and witness accounts. The fire at 105 Convention Boulevard destroyed much evidence, and water from firefighting efforts likely diluted traces of accelerants, leaving investigators with little beyond a general conclusion of arson.

Modern Advancements:

• Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS): Now refined, GC-MS can detect minute traces of accelerants like gasoline or kerosene even in heavily contaminated debris. If any samples from the scene (ash, charred wood) were preserved, they could be retested to pinpoint the exact substance and its distribution, revealing whether it was poured strategically (e.g., near Evelyn) or randomly.
• Fire Modeling Software: Computational models like the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) could recreate the blaze’s spread based on the house’s layout, materials, and burn patterns. This might determine the fire’s origin—say, near Evelyn’s bedroom versus an entry point—offering clues about intent and the perpetrator’s movements.
• Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Analysis: Advanced sniffers can identify lingering chemical signatures years later, even in soil beneath the site, potentially confirming arson if no samples remain.

Impact: These tools could clarify if the fire was set to kill Evelyn specifically or to cover a theft, narrowing suspect profiles (e.g., someone with access versus an outsider).

2. DNA Evidence: Unlocking Biological Clues

1978 Limitations: DNA profiling didn’t exist until the mid-1980s, so no biological evidence was collected or analyzed. The fire’s intensity likely destroyed obvious traces like blood or hair, and investigators focused on survivors’ statements rather than trace evidence.

Modern Advancements:

• Touch DNA: Today, forensic teams can extract DNA from surfaces touched by a perpetrator—doorknobs, a safe, or debris near the fire’s origin. If an outsider set the fire, their DNA might linger on items recovered from the scene, assuming any were archived.
• Degraded DNA Recovery: Techniques like mitochondrial DNA analysis or next-generation sequencing can amplify tiny, heat-damaged samples. If Evelyn’s remains or personal items (clothing, jewelry) were preserved, they could be tested for foreign DNA, hinting at a struggle or an intruder’s presence.
• Genealogy Databases: If DNA is found, investigative genetic genealogy—used in cases like the Golden State Killer—could trace it to a suspect or their relatives via public databases, even decades later.

Impact: DNA could implicate her business partner, (if his alibi masks involvement) or identify an unknown party, shifting the case from circumstantial guesswork to hard evidence.

3. Digital Forensics: Tracing the Bonds

1978 Limitations: The $3 million in bearer bonds vanished, and tracking them relied on manual checks with banks and informants. Bearer bonds, payable to whoever holds them, were nearly untraceable once stolen, and no serial numbers or digital records were linked to them in the investigation.

Modern Advancements:

• Financial Record Digitization: While 1978 banking was paper-based, many institutions have since digitized archives. Cross-referencing bond serial numbers (if recorded by Evelyn or her family) with historical redemption records could reveal if they were cashed post-fire, pointing to a thief.
• Blockchain Analysis Principles: Though bearer bonds predate blockchain, modern pattern-analysis tools could track their movement through financial networks if they resurfaced in the 1980s or later, especially if laundered through offshore accounts.
• AI Pattern Recognition: Algorithms could sift through decades of financial data for anomalies tied to Hot Springs or the Williams family, flagging suspicious transactions.

Impact: Finding the bonds’ trail could directly implicate a suspect—the business partner, a family member, or a third party—tying the motive (theft) to the crime.

4. Psychological Profiling and Witness Reanalysis

1978 Limitations: Profiling was rudimentary, and witness interviews (e.g., the business partner, the houseguest) relied on detectives’ intuition. Evelyn’s distressed call to her son wasn’t recorded or forensically dissected.

Modern Advancements:

• Behavioral Analysis: FBI-style profiling could reassess business partner's statements for deception—pauses, inconsistencies—or evaluate Evelyn’s lifestyle for enemies (ex-lovers, business rivals). This might refine the suspect pool.
• Voice Stress Analysis: If a recording of Evelyn’s final call exists (unlikely but possible if her son kept it), software could detect fear or duress, corroborating her sense of threat.
• Cold Case Interview Techniques: Re-interviewing aging witnesses—like the houseguest or neighbors—with modern methods (e.g., cognitive interviewing) could unearth forgotten details, like a stranger seen that week.

Impact: A sharper suspect profile or revived witness memory could redirect the investigation, especially if physical evidence is scarce.

5. Preservation and Re-examination of Evidence

1978 Limitations: Evidence storage was inconsistent—items might have been discarded or poorly cataloged after the case went cold. The Hot Springs Police Department likely kept minimal samples, if any.

Modern Advancements:

• Cold Case Units: Specialized teams could petition to reopen the case, pulling any archived evidence (charred debris, Evelyn’s remains) from storage. Non-destructive imaging (e.g., 3D X-ray scanning) could reveal overlooked clues in objects like a safe or furniture fragments.
• Isotope Analysis: If bones or teeth survived, stable isotope testing could confirm Evelyn’s identity and recent movements (via diet or water signatures), ruling out wild theories (e.g., she faked her death).
• Microscopy: Scanning electron microscopes could detect microscopic accelerant residues or tool marks on locks, suggesting forced entry.

Impact: Re-examining physical remnants with today’s precision could either confirm arson details or uncover entirely new leads.

Feasibility and Challenges

Applying these advancements hinges on evidence preservation—did the HSPD retain debris, autopsy samples, or photos? Small departments often purge old files, and the fire’s destruction limits what’s left. The site at her residence, if rebuilt, might still hold soil traces, but excavation is unlikely without a reopened case. Evelyn's business partner and key witnesses are likely deceased, reducing fresh testimony. Still, even partial evidence (a bone fragment, a bond stub) could crack the case with DNA or chemical analysis.

Potential Outcomes

• Business partner Implicated: DNA or profiling might expose inconsistencies in his escape story, suggesting he set the fire for the bonds.
• Third Party Identified: DNA or bond tracing could point to an outsider—say, a local crook or someone Evelyn crossed in Hot Springs’ underworld.
• Accident Ruled Out: Advanced fire analysis could solidify arson, dispelling any doubt it was a tragic mishap.

As of 2025, no public effort has leveraged these tools here. A cold case unit with funding and family pressure (e.g., from Sharrie Williams) could push for it, turning Evelyn’s mystery into a solvable puzzle. 

AFTER THE FIRE COMES A HAPPY ENDING

Everything about our lives changed after we moved into the house my father built for us. The picture The Greenspan Company created of my loss for the Insurance Company, forced them to pay me the full value of what it was worth.  I moved back into my home feeling like a Queen and never looked back.

Georgia and I were once again happy and had a bright future to look forward to.  For me it was going back to College and finishing my Bachelors Degree in Psychology and writing my book.  For Georgia it was going to college, finding a husband and someday being a Bride.  We both made those dreams a reality.  Georgia and I graduated from college within the same week in 2001 and she married the following year.  My book was published in September of 2010 and I am at last a published author thinking of writing my second book.

My father's beautiful Art Deco, Mediterranean design.   Here is the entry and stairs leading to the living area.

The window seat at the top of the stairs with an Ocean view.

The Living room, dining room, kitchen and TV room behind the kitchen.  Stairs lead to my Master Suite.

The Master Bathroom with a fireplace, 
double sinks,Jacuzzi tub and Ocean view. 

 I never dreamed this beautiful home was in the deck of cards representing the events in my life, but by the Grace of God I was blessed beyond measure.

                                 THE END.

Thank You for following the Vintage Maybelline Docu-Blog.  Stay tuned for more Fabulous Posts next week.

The death of Evelyn Williams, known as Miss Maybelline, remains a shrouded mystery

 

The death of Evelyn Williams, known as Miss Maybelline, remains a shrouded mystery that has captivated true crime enthusiasts and those familiar with the legacy of the Maybelline cosmetics empire. According to the web information available, here are the key points surrounding her death:

• Incident Details: Evelyn Williams died in a fire that engulfed her home in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1978. It was not only a tragic death but also involved the theft of approximately 3 million dollars in bonds.
• Investigation and Theories: Her death has been the subject of extensive investigation and speculation. The narrative around her demise includes theories of it being either a tragic accident or a premeditated crime. The podcast "The Coroner's Report" delves into this mystery, exploring whether the fire was accidental or orchestrated.
• Family and Legacy: Evelyn was central to the Maybelline story, being the grandmother of Sharrie Williams, who has been vocal about her grandmother's life and death through various media, including books and podcasts. The family's involvement with Maybelline is well-documented, with Evelyn's life story adding a dramatic twist to the company's history.
• Public Interest: The case has maintained public interest, with media like the "Coroner's Report Podcast" and interviews with Sharrie Williams providing deep dives into the events leading up to Evelyn's death, her personal life, and the aftermath.
• Literature and Media: Sharrie Williams' book, "The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It," further details the mysterious circumstances of Evelyn's death, offering insights into the family dynamics and the business of beauty.

The narrative around Miss Maybelline's death is complex, involving elements of family drama, corporate legacy, and true crime, with no definitive conclusion on whether her death was accidental or murder. This case remains one of the unsolved mysteries within the annals of American true crime stories.