• by December 10, 2008

Much has changed since Raquel Welch and numerous other celebrities answered the iconic question, "Who's That Behind Those Foster Grants?" in 1960s ads. For example:

 • Geer DuBois, the venerable New York agency that created the ads--later named one of Ad Age's top 100 ad campaigns of the century--suddenly collapsed in 1993.

• In that same decade, Foster Grant itself fell on lean times and became nearly invisible marketing-wise.

• Raquel Welch grew up--parlaying her sex-symbol beginnings into serious movie and TV work, Broadway roles and book authorship. And she's no longer in her 20s.

And, alas, the 60-something actress has switched from sunglasses to reading glasses.

Guess what? Foster Grant--now under the FGX International moniker--sells those, too. In fact, its reading glasses line was launched 25 years ago, but has never had consumer advertising support--until now, with Welch returning to the helm.

Welch will star in Foster Grant Reading Glasses' first-ever ad campaign, targeted to men and women 35 years and older. An eight-week TV flight, featuring 15-second and 10-second spots, will debut on national cable networks on Feb. 9. The spots are being produced by Bob Giraldi, whose classic work includes Miller Lite celebrity spots ("Less Filling, Tastes Great") and Michael Jackson's "Beat It" video.

Print, online and point-of-purchase materials are also under development to tie in with the TV advertising.

It's all part of the $12 million-plus FGX International plans to spend in measured consumer media for reading glasses alone during 2009 (the company also markets the Magnivision line). Ferrara & Company, Princeton, N.J., is Foster Grant's creative agency, with RJ Palmer, New York handling media.

Foster Grant spent $7 million on consumer advertising in measured media in both 2007 and 2008. The company re-emerged on the ad scene in 2002 via print ads from Interpublic Group's Mullen Advertising after a dozen or so years of inactivity.