Jane Fonda L'Oreal - P 2011
Jane Fonda put on her best French accent to host a celebration of the 40th anniversary of L’Oreal Paris’ legendary slogan “Because I’m Worth It” in Paris on Monday night. Fonda’s fellow brand ambassadors Aimée Mullins, Ines de la Fressange, Fan Bingbing and Freida Pinto joined L’Oreal top execs to toast the timeless catchphrase at a luxe soiree at the Hotel d’Evreux at the Place Vendome.
“If you really think about it, there are very few great slogans and ‘Because I’m Worth it’ is one of them,” Fonda said.
The “Because I’m Worth It” tagline originated in 1971 when L’Oreal needed to convince consumers to spend more on their products than then-competitor Clairol. Today, the slogan has been translated into 40 languages, and still represents the brand’s image across the world.
Female empowerment was on the menu as the ceremony kicked off with the evening’s host Fonda and her fellow beauty ambassadors complete with a video montage of the brand’s history then continued with a cocktail.
“In 1971, it was revolutionary. Women weren’t used to feeling like we were worth it. Even though I was successful and famous, I did not feel like I was worth it,” Fonda said, adding: “All of us have been changed because we’ve been able to say those words thanks to L’Oreal.”
Since it’s creation, the slogan has changed to “Because You’re Worth It” to today’s current tagline “Because We’re Worth it.”
“For me personally, it’s a statement of absolute self confidence and empowerment,” Freido Pinto said of the slogan. The actress currently stars in Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Black Gold that hits French theaters next week.
Chinese actress Fan Bingbing said: “For me, it is also a language of love.”
L’Oreal Paris global brand President Cyril Chapuy kept the evening festive as he left the stage to L’Oreal’s leading ladies who each talked about what the tagline has meant to them and their visions of beauty.
“It’s a very personal thing to say that you’re worth it,” Aimée Mullins explained, adding: “We have the power to create and recreate who we are every day.”
For French beauty icon Ines de la Fressange,“Beauty is the exterior manifestation of what happens on the interior,” she said, adding: “Beauty isn’t just about what we’re wearing on the outside, it’s about how we feel on the inside.”
The night’s theme of female empowerment extended to several video montages that featured old L’Oréal commercials and interviews with the brands first beauty spokesmodel, the woman who coined the phrase and several past L’Oreal spokesmodels.
L’Oreal continues to make its worth known among the global film industry with not only a strong media presence at the Festival de Cannes, but also through it’s 25 a-list spokespeople. Current faces of the brand include musicians Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani, actresses Eva Longoria, Milla Jovovich, Andie MacDowell, Laetitia Casta and Rachel Weisz plus beauty icons Claudia Schiffer and Ines de la Fressange.
