WOULD A WOMAN WITH PRIDE BUY 50¢ STOCKINGS?

Stevens produced an excellent new stocking that sold for just 50¢ a pair, far less than other brands. It was an unbelievable price. And even if it could be believed, many women wouldn’t be caught dead buying such low-priced stockings. We had to convert cheap into chic. We began with its name, by calling it 25¢-a-leg. (Not half bad!) And we designed its package into an ad in itself. Ron Holland and I then created a campaign

of sophisticated slapstick: A spokeswoman stomps onto the TV screen wearing a full cast on one leg. Her one-liner: “25¢ will buy you one beautiful leg. For another quarter we'll take care of the other one.”A doctor’s hand tests the knee reflexes of a woman’s leg. Off screen voice: “Any woman who pays more than 25¢ a leg for stockings ought to have her knees examined.”A woman in a Rolls Royce delivers this blue blood   zinger: “Though I’m filthy with money why should I pay more than 25¢ a leg?'” After all this cute legwork there was a run on Stevens stockings. They were a spectacular success, with huge sales in supermarkets (not just in department stores). This campaign changed the way hosiery was priced, packaged and sold.  And in no time flat, the field was flooded with low priced brands. 25¢-a-leg turned an industry inside out, and not one woman in America complained (or she would have had her knees examined).