Ali MacGraw for Chanel No. 5 and Johnson’s Baby Oil – 1971

The 1970 movie, Love Story, starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali Mac Graw was another movie that was etched in the zeitgeist of my teenaged years. Ali MacGraw, with her dark smoldering beauty, was just impossibly cool. And she, like Olivia Hussey (Juliet) before her, parlayed her beauty into a modeling career. I found these two ads in the same issue of Glamour magazine, May 1971. The ads are a bit dichotomous, but Ali was certainly versatile!

The first ad features a classic, extremely pale-faced Ali posing for Chanel No. 5 perfume (and bath powder, spray cologne, and eau de Cologne). Very chic and beautiful.

The second ad features an extremely tan Ali posing on the beach for Johnson’s Baby Oil. Quite unbelievable now, but they used to promote basting in the sun with only baby oil. Sunscreen? Bah! Baby oil was supposed to ‘turn on your tan’ by tanning you faster and deeper. And a deeper tan was supposed to last longer. It probably worked for olive skin types like Ali, but for us pale-skin types it was probably the worst thing we could do for our skin. Here’s to versatility, Ali; you certainly knew how to rock it!

~Marilyn