Advertising Trailblazer Joy Golden Dies At 85

Joy Golden, president of Joy Radio, and an award-winning advertising executive, passed away from illness on Aug. 29. She was 85. Ms. Golden made a name for herself as a writer, fragrance authority, fashion expert and cosmetic maven, among other things. In 1984, she gained international recognition when a client asked her to write a "little schtick" about Laughing Cow Cheese. That "schtick" became a hit, winning her shelves full of awards that included ADDY, Clio, One Show, Effie, Mercury, Andy, IBA, International Festival Grand Prix, among others. "Little did I know that would make me famous," Ms. Golden said in a 1992 interview. "I went from nothing to international fame. I was in the New York Times, Museum of Television and Radio and I said, 'Goodbye' to the world and said 'I'm opening my own business.' I was 55 and I was a hit, kids." In a 2009 Jezebel profile, Ms. Golden talked about her time working in the advertising industry during the 1960s. "Things changed," Ms. Golden told the online publication. "What happened is, it became technological creative rather than creative creative … so we all kind of lost our hearts." Before she launched her radio advertising business, Ms. Golden was an ad agency creative director and copywriter. Her life's work, known as The Joy Golden Papers, is part of the permanent collection of the Duke University Hartman Center at David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Ms. Golden was an inspired and inventive wit with a larger-than-life-personality that matched her name. She invented hundreds of iconic characters for her funny and sometimes racy radio commercials, including the "cheese-loving Valley Girl" and the Broadway musical fan, "Adele Kaminsky," voiced by Ms. Golden herself. Other noted campaigns Ms. Golden created were for Anheuser-Busch's Eagle Snacks; Coca-Cola; Dunkin' Donuts; Ladies Home Journal; Levi's and the Broadway musical "La Cage Aux Folles."

Advertising Trailblazer Joy Golden Dies At 85

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