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May 17, 2008 9:22 pm US/Eastern
Miami's Coppertone Girl Coming Down
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Refurbishing and possibly re-lighting the sign is expected to cost somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000, according to Jerry Bengis, whose father built the original sign.
CBS
This city's Coppertone Girl and the mischievous puppy pulling down her bathing suit bottom are stepping out of the sun after almost half a century, but they could be back in the Florida sunshine soon.
Workers started removing a famous neon sign of the pair from the Concord building in downtown Miami on Saturday. The pigtailed poster girl for tanning lotion had been missing her famous face and part of her tanned torso for some time, but an organization is now working to restore the sign and put it back near its original location.
So how does she look after 50 years in the sun?
"Right now she doesn't look very good," said Fran Rollason, the president of the MiMo Biscayne Association, which is overseeing the sign's restoration.
Refurbishing and possibly re-lighting the sign is expected to cost somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000, according to Jerry Bengis, whose father built the original sign.
Bengis, who is helping with the sign's preservation, says he sees it as a piece of art and history similar to artist Andy Warhol's famous soup cans.
"I think it's more art than advertising anymore," he said.
The company that now owns Coppertone, New Jersey-based Schering-Plough Corp., has promised to help pay for the restoration. It still uses the girl's image but it has changed in the years since the Miami sign was put up.
"She's just protecting herself a little more with sunscreen these days," said company spokeswoman Jennifer Samolewicz, who said the girl's tan lines were removed and swimming suit altered. "She's gotten a little more modest over the years. The dog isn't tugging as hard as he used to."
Originally developed by Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green in the early 1940s, Coppertone has its roots in Florida. Its tanned toddler spokesgirl, meanwhile, was developed by a Florida artist in 1959 and the sign was erected soon after on a building along Biscayne Boulevard.
After that building was demolished more than a decade ago the sign was moved to its current location.
On Saturday crews had removed the individual letters spelling "Coppertone" below the girl as well as part of her dog. But they will likely need to return next week for the next week for the girl because of her
size -- some two stories or more tall.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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