L'eggs is a brand of pantyhose, introduced in 1969 by Hanes, which radically changed the hosiery marketplace. The novel developments were the egg-shaped plastic product container, the shift to consignment sales in drug stores and groceries, and the in-store product racks designed to emphasize the egg shape. The brand logo hinted at a pair of chicks or eggs in the lettering. L'eggs was an immediate success, knocking out many competitors and becoming a tremendous profit stream for Hanes. Customers liked the egg-style packaging and the convenience of buying pantyhose closer to home during their usual errands. Celebrity endorsements helped to keep the brand in the forefront. The plastic egg packaging was used for home handicrafts and as a toy for children. The success of the product line continued through the 1970s and 1980s, with L'eggs standing as the largest pantyhose brand in the US. In the 1990s, office workers increasingly adopted casual dress styles, and many women in the workplace stopped wearing pantyhose. L'eggs downsized in the mid-1990s even as they retained a large share of the reduced marketplace. They also exchanged their plastic egg for a more environmentally friendly cardboard cylinder and dome. Development and rollout L'eggs was the brainchild of Hanes executive Robert Elberson, who put together a secret project in the basement at the Hanes factory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Elberson's vision was that women should be able to buy pantyhose more conveniently at supermarkets and drug stores rather than at women's clothing boutiques or department stores. All pantyhose at the time was sold in the form of a clear plastic envelope containing the hosiery wrapped around a cardboard insert. The project team was tasked with finding a new packaging design that would appeal to women as an impulse purchase. Roger Ferriter of the creative agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample invented the egg packaging: the hosiery was to be sold inside plastic, egg-shaped containers. Fred Howard created the product sales racks which were vertically oriented white plastic oversized eggs, "exploded" in the middle to contain circular racks. The product was so successful that Hanes increased their advertising outlay from $250,000 annually to $10 million in the first years. Total sales in 1970 was reported as $9 million, rising to $110 million in 1973. In 1972, L'eggs predicted they would move 100 million units, while spending 20 percent of their budget on promotion. David E. Harrold, president of Hanes