Former NFL quarterback Joe Namath was an absolute superstar celebrity during the 1960s and 1970s. “Broadway Joe” not only led the Alabama Crimson Tide to a national championship in 1964, he became a Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl III MVP quarterback with the New York Jets in the NFL.
The 30-second spot, aired in 1974, begins at a pair of feet and pans along two legs in silky pantyhose. A voiceover artist says, “This commercial will prove to the women of America that Beautymist pantyhose can make any legs look like a million dollars.”
The camera reveals that the model is Namath, holding a package of the product. He says, “Now, I don’t wear pantyhose, but if Beautymist can make my legs look good, imagine what they’ll do for yours.”
A graphic pops up, showing the $1.69 price and Namath’s face in an inset. The voiceover adds, “Somehow everything looks better through Beautymist.” Namath ends the commercial by saying to the audience, “Especially your legs,” before a woman kisses him on the cheek.
Namath told Newsweek in a 1999 interview that he “got a laugh out of it” when Hanes approached him with the storyboards for the commercial. But he had second thoughts when his secretary said her “daddy wouldn’t like” the ad “because he doesn’t think football players should wear pantyhose,” Namath recalled.
“[W]hen I looked at it, my stomach turned; I didn’t like anything about the way I looked,” he laughed.
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