Ilon Specht's 'Because I'm worth it' and Women's Empowerment

Key Insight

In 1973, 23-year-old copywriter Ilon Specht, known for her rebellious and independent nature, found herself working on L'Oréal's Preference account at McCann-Erickson. L'Oréal aimed to challenge Clairol's market dominance, initially planning a comparison campaign highlighting Preference's technological superiority for natural color. However, this strategy was abruptly canceled just four weeks before its air date due to the research not being conducted in the United States, creating an urgent need for a new creative direction.

Specht's frustration with the advertising industry's traditional, objectifying view of women fueled her creative outburst. In a mere five minutes, driven by anger, she penned the legendary 'Because I’m worth it' slogan. The commercial script conveyed a direct, personal message: 'I use the most expensive hair color in the world. Preference, by L’Oréal. It’s not that I care about money. It’s that I care about my hair... Actually, I don’t mind spending more for L’Oréal. Because I’m worth it.' While initially intended to justify the product's 10 cent higher price, the powerful final line quickly became the campaign's core.

This self-directed message diverged significantly from previous 'other-directed' campaigns, marking a pivotal moment in advertising. Preference rapidly gained market share, eventually surpassing Nice 'n Easy as the country's leading hair-color brand in the 1980s. By 1997, 'Because I’m worth it' became L'Oréal's overarching company slogan, recognized by an astonishing 71 percent of American women. The campaign featured spokeswomen embodying a blend of strength and vulnerability, like Meredith Baxter Birney and Cybill Shepherd, resonating particularly with women undergoing life transformations, such as divorce, who sought a means of immediate and affordable self-reinvention.