Like the celebrities of today, Louise Brooks’ name and image was used in a number of advertisements and promotional campaigns. Beginning in 1926 with the “Louise Brooks Evening Gown” and running through the LUX soap campaigns of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Brooks’ name, image and likeness was used to “sell” all manner of products and services — not only in the United States, but also elsewhere around the world. Here is the story behind Brooks’ involvement with Lux soap around the world (excluding the United States and Canada).
Lux Soap was introduced to America in 1925 by the Lever Brothers, an English firm. It was white soap packaged in pastel colors designed and marketed to be comparable to finer French soaps, but more affordable. Notably, in 1928, Lux Soap began a campaign to get endorsements from Hollywood stars by sending cases of Lux Soap to 425 actresses. It received 414 endorsements in return, leading the firm to claim 9 out of 10 stars in Hollywood use Lux Soap. Among the actresses contacted by Lux was Louise Brooks.
Brooks first appeared in a Lux ad as early as January, 1928 — while the last known ad to include Brooks appeared in late 1931. Most of these ads pictured a small number of actresses — with Brooks among them, while a few pictured two actresses, one of whom was Brooks. (Brooks was sometimes paired with Dorothy Mackaill, Janet Gaynor or Joan Crawford.) As well, a small number of ads pictured only Brooks, a rare distinction. Such ads appeared in the United States and Canada, as well as in England, Ireland, Jamaica, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia. It is likely ads appeared in other countries, possibly even in Japan, but they have yet to be found.
This page highlights some of the advertisements which appeared in various newspapers and magazines published around the world. There is also a page on the Louise Brooks Society archive focused on Lux ads from the United States and Canada.
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| England, newspaper ad, July 1929 | England, magazine ad, November 1929 | England, newspaper ad, September 1930 |
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| England, magazine ad, September 1930 | England, magazine ad, March 1930 | England, magazine ad, November 1930 |
Though Louise Brooks was never the star in England that she was in the United States, she was featured in what might seemingly be a disproportionate number and variety of English ads. These ads are also some of the more interesting examples of the Lux campaign — at least those that include Brooks. Variously, the ads describe her as “the piquant, beautiful film actress” (September 1930) whose “exquisite skin thrills” (November 1930).
What’s also notable is that some of these advertisements contain supposed actual statements from Brooks. For example, the newspaper ad from July 1929 contains a signed statement from the actress which reads, “I learned by experience what my studios proved by scientific tests — that only Lux keeps that lovely fresh, new look in clothes. I insist on Lux.” Similarly, the magazine ad from November 1930 reads, “‘Film stars know what a danger this hard water is to beauty'” says lovely Louise Brooks the famous screen star! ‘Beware of hard water. That’s one of the first warnings in the film world, for screen stars know what a danger hard water is to beauty,’ explained Miss Louise Brooks, when visiting England. ‘I was really alarmed when I discovered what corroding hard water there is in London. But when I used Lux Toilet Soap — at once there was such luxurious lather that the water seemed mild and soft as rain. And it left my skin smooth as satin’!”
Advertisements, whether from the past or today, sometimes make unfounded claims and stretch the truth. Curiously, a couple of the ads from England claim that Brooks was a visitor to England. However, the only known visit Brooks made to England was in late 1924, when she danced at the Café de Paris in London.
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| England, magazine ad, December 1929 |
Ireland, newspaper ad, April 1929 | Ireland, newspaper ad, November 1929 |
Louise Brooks also appeared in a handful of Lux soap ads which appeared in Australia and New Zealand magazines and newspapers. These ads were similar — both in terms of their text and design — to those which appeared in the United States, England and other English speaking countries.
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| Australia, June 1929 | Australia, newspaper ad, February 1930 | Australia, magazine ad, March 1931 |
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| Jamaica, newspaper ad, June 1931 | France, newspaper ad, October 1931 | Indonesia, newspaper ad, November 1931 |
The ad on the left, from New Zealand, is the only example to come from that island nation (so far). The ad from France ran in a small number of Parisian newspapers. The ad on the right from Indonesia, then called the Dutch East Indies, comes from the island of Sumatra. The latter two are also similar in design to the English-language ads.