More Famous Two For Ones

I almost forgot about the sweet valley twins. I use to read these books in 5th grade or so and its probably one of the first times I personally was hit with the dual personality marketing strategy. Back then I was the target rather than the critic and I remember the success of the strategy quite well. Jessica was the feminine/boy crazy one and Elizabeth was the tomboyish/school focused one. I remember relating mostly to Elizabeth, but having some connection to Jessica. Jessica's enjoyment of her friends and parties was something I could relate to, but her more boy crazy ways were off putting. Elizabeth's interest in playing sports and her more school focused attitude was appealing to me, but then other times she seemed a little uptight. I was definitely being sold products, but also messaging about what a girl should be and how a girl should act through the positive and negatives of each girl.

Here's an online book review that I found for the above pictured book. The little girl who keeps her book reviews has no idea how much I appreciate her sharing these thoughts with all of us.

"This story is about two girls and their names are Elizabeth, and Jessica. Elizabeth and Jessica are identical. Elizabeth and Jessica look alike on the outside but they aren't alike in the inside. Elizabeth likes green and likes school and would play adventure or practice soccer outside, but Jessica likes pink and likes sharing secrets and likes recess and likes playing with her dolls and stuffed animals inside."

An even earlier twin show (though they were suppose to be cousins, but same marketing strategy) was the Patty Duke Show. The Patty Duke Show was a sitcom which ran on ABC from September 18, 1963 to the final episode aired on May 4, 1966 and repeats through August 31, 1966. The show was created as a vehicle for rising star Patty Duke, who had recently won an Academy Award for The Miracle Worker.

Patty Lane (played by Duke) was a normal teenager living in the Brooklyn Heights section of New York City, who loved boys, ice cream, and sleepovers. In the first episode, her "identical cousin" Cathy Lane (also played by Duke) arrived in the United States from Scotland to live with Patty's family. Their close physical resemblance to each other is explained by their fathers being identical twin brothers.

Patty's father, Martin (Schallert, who also played Cathy's father in a handful of episodes), was the managing editor of the fictitious New York Chronicle; Cathy's father also worked for the Chronicle as a foreign correspondent. It was Cathy's father's wish that she complete her secondary schooling in the United States before she would be allowed to return to Scotland. Cathy was much more worldly, and the aggravations that came from the two girls' very different personalities set the tone for much of the sitcom. The show's theme song, which has since been parodied many times over in pop culture, illustrates the two girls' differences: Cathy adores the minuet, the Ballet Russe, and crêpes suzette, while Patty loved to rock 'n' roll; a hot dog "made her lose control."