Mary Kay Inc. is a multi-level marketing company started in 1963 by Texan Mary Kay Ash. The firm relies on a network of beauty consultants to sell cosmetics to customers – typically through home visits. Consultants also receive commissions based on the number of salespeople they attract to the company. In 1968, Mary Kay Ash purchased a Cadillac for herself from a Dallas car dealership. But this was no ordinary Cadillac. The feisty business woman had General Motors paint the car to match the “Mountain Laurel” blush in her makeup compact – a light coral pink. The following year, she rewarded her top five consultants with pink Coupe de Ville Cadillacs. The tradition has continued ever since. Pink Cadillacs have become synonymous with Mary Kay Inc., becoming moving advertisements for the company.
Since that first car, Mary Kay Inc. has painted over 100,000 Cadillacs. The paint hue has varied over the years, ranging from bubble gum pink to a soft pearlescent pink. General Motors limits the purchase of the custom colour to Mary Kay Inc. consultants. “When the pink Cadillac is put back into market and resold as a pre-owned vehicle, it is repainted back to the original color. You can’t go to a Cadillac dealer and buy a used vehicle that’s painted Mary Kay pink. It’s exclusive to Mary Kay,” says Ed Peper, vice president of General Motors Fleet.
At the time of her death in 2001, Mary Kay Inc. had over 800,000 representatives working in 37 countries. The company has grown since then. In 2017, they had 2.5 million consultants and generated $3.7 billion in sales. The brand-defining pink Cadillac celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2019.
Official Mary Kay Pink Pearl Tricoat: 06/WA983L