According to Nielsen, 111.3 million people tuned in to watch Super Bowl LI on February 5, 2017. The lucky ones were able to see something rare and wonderful: a commercial for professional hair care brand, It’s a 10. The spot featured all different types of hair and types of beauty, with the opening voiceover saying, “America, we’re in for at least four years of awful hair.  It’s up to you to do your part by making up for it with great hair.”

MODERN SALON’s Editor-in-Chief  Alison Alhamed sat down with It’s a 10 Owner and Founder, Carolyn Aronson, soon after this spectacular power play to talk about her goals for the commercial and how her brand is doing its part to create great hair.

AA: You launched It’s a 10 about ten years ago. What products would people be most familiar with from the line?

CA: Our It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-In product is our number one SKU.  It comes in six different flavors and there are about 15 million bottles sold a year. It’s truly a miracle.

AA: How did you decide you wanted to air your commercial during the Super Bowl?

CA: It’s a 10 hair care has been a very successful brand for the past ten years. The passion behind the brand with hairstylists and the consumer has been very organic; it’s been almost a cult-like following. I built this company by getting it into hairdresser’s hands and from there it snow balled. So the entire concept has had this underground vibe to it.

I recently became full owner of the company, and I thought what better way to come out than by introducing the world, millions of people, to the brand at one time

We also just launched a men’s line so I thought, that’s really organic and we have the whole the Super Bowl vibe behind it. There are 45 percent women watching as well. 

AA: You are not only an incredible entrepreneur, you’re also a hairdresser. Tell us a little bit about your history.

CA: Yes, by 16, I was working on my license and by 18, I was a hairdresser and I was in the salon for 20 years.  I also went to college at night and got a business degree because I knew that I wanted to own a salon someday and I wanted to really know how to run a business. Over the years, my career has unfolded and evolved into hair care and for the past 15 years I have been a hair product manufacturer.

AA: What was your goal with this commercial?

CA: I wanted to convey a combination of the passion of my industry and the fact that we deal with all walks of life. I didn’t choose models or actors for this commercial because it’s not always the supermodels or the person with perfect hair that sit in your chair.  These were real life people because that’s what America is about and what beauty is about.

 As Americans we are very diverse and hair is an amazing expression of humanity.

AA: What has been the reaction to the commercial?

CA: People love it.  We have almost a million views in only 48 hours. Out of all the commercials shown during the Super Bowl, I think it was one of the most well-received.  We shot it in black-and-white which is unheard of for a beauty commercial. But, truly, beauty doesn’t need color. That’s what I wanted to convey.  Hairdressers are very creative people and I wanted to express my own creativity and the creativity of my brand.

https://itsa10haircare.com/