Bill?s Gone; Dillard?s Gets Sexy

We were surprised when we opened the May 15 issue of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and saw a very sexy photo of actress Sandra Bernhardt staring suggestively from a Dillard’s advertisement on Page 13A. For a minute, we thought the newspaper had gotten the Dillard’s ad mixed up with one for Regina’s House of Dolls. But that was not the case.

Bernhardt’s chest was busting out of a denim shirt, and her shorts were shorter than short. The text read: “Pool party. Dive in. Take a dip. Aquanaughty shades …”

The ad was a cobranded sort of thing with Makeup Art Cosmetics (MAC for short). Bernhardt is a spokesperson for MAC. The ad urged women to call the MAC counter at the Fayetteville Dillard’s for a “makeup appointment.”

In the 64-year history of Dillard’s, we doubt if the Little Rock-based company ever has been associated with a more risqué ad. We couldn’t help wondering how many RPMs Bill Dillard was doing in his grave. Dillard, who founded Dillard’s in Nashville, Ark., in 1938 and died this past February at the age of 87, was an old-fashioned gentleman who would not have ballyhooed Bernhardt’s breasts in one of his company’s ads.