TV's newest soap stars?

Local family tries to clean up in Ivory's contest to revive 1960s campaign

By Kate R. Houlihan staff writer

A Plainfield family will jet off to New York City this weekend with a chance to win a national contest and a $40,000 scholarship.

Ivory soap launched a nationwide quest to find three generations of a family that uses its product as part of a revived 1960s ad campaign to promote its new lavender scent. The Chicago regional event to find such a family was held in April at the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville – and Sandra Mecklenburg of Plainfield; her 6-year-old daughter, Alexandra; and her 52-year-old mother, MaryRose Bell of Oak Brook, were there.

Sandra, 32, wrote an essay about wisdom and everyday family moments, as all competing families were asked to do. She, her daughter and her mother also had their photo taken in front of a lavender background surrounded by a bottle of Ivory lavender body wash.

The next day, Mecklenburg got the call: Her family was the regional winner and had qualified for the finals. They are one of eight finalists discovered at similar events held in New York, Atlanta, Seattle and Los Angeles throughout the first part of this year.

"The night of the contest we came home and we were excited to see ourselves on the news," Mecklenburg said. "It was really just a pleasant surprise. We're proud to represent not only Chicago but our family."

That family actually includes four generations and, until five years ago, five generations, Mecklenburg said. Her husband, John; 3-year-old son, Marco; and her sister and grandmother will be tagging along to New York City.

"We've never been there before," Mecklenburg said. "It's always been a place we wanted to go and now we're getting a chance."

The family will be asked two questions at Tuesday's event:

• Why do they think they should be the next Ivory family?

• What traditions do they pass on through their family?

Those questions correspond to what Ivory tries to embody as a product, Ivory brand manager Sara Young said. She, along with the Darrow and Doyle families – both of which appeared in the 1960s family advertisements – will judge the finalists.

The winning family will be featured on Ivory's Web site and receive a $40,000 scholarship.

Mecklenburg, her daughter, mother, grandmother and sister will head to New York on Sunday, but her husband and son will leave a day earlier. They all hope to do a little sightseeing.

"We've always been proud of the fact we've maintained our close-knit family and kept those generations alive," Mecklenburg said.

Contact Kate Houlihan at 630-416-5224 or khoulihan@scn1.com <mailto:khoulihan@scn1.com>.

09/20/06