Early radio advertising could more than double a sponsor’s product sales

Evidence

The family had decided to advertise on the new medium, whereupon Paley devised the idea of “La Palina girl,” a glamorous and sultry singer who was depicted as the only female guest at an all-male gathering of smokers, whom she would amuse with her wisecracks and song. While producing the show, Paley fell in love with La Palina girl—the miraculous sensation of coming up with a hit. While no Amos ’n’ Andy, his show did drive sales of the family cigars from 400,000 to one million a day—making it “one of radio’s earliest spectacular achievements.” — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 337

Categorization

• SEED: Article angle: the ‘La Palina girl’ as an early influencer-marketing play — a fictional persona built to sell a product through seduction — and how radio made audience-building a commercial art.
• XREF: connects to: Early radio advertising worked indirectly through sponsored content — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 292; Radio sponsorship doubled Pepsodent toothpaste sales within a year — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 325