By Leigh Andrews Think of iconic brand L’Oréal and the slogan ‘because I’m worth it’ will most likely come to mind. That probably has something to do with the fact that this slogan has been around for 40 years. Did you know it was created in 1971 in New York, to position the brand’s Preference hair colour on the market against Clairol (the leading hair colour brand at the time)? Or that the copywriter who broke new ground with the slogan was just 23 years of age? The reason the slogan sounds like a justification is because it is one – when Preference was launched, it was the most expensive hair colour on the market, so consumers needed a special reason to purchase it, and ‘because I’m worth it’ hit all the right notes. Why, you ask? Well, because it turned the ‘females are silent and must make an effort to look good’ patriarchal world standard (previously written about by Nikita Gomes Achadinha) on its head. My inner feminist applauds. You’re choosing a product with strong scientific backing, and you’re doing it for yourself, not to please anyone else (though obviously others will be impressed by the results, too). SLoGAN IS StILL worth It COUP●JANUARY●2012●42