The $45 Doodle That Took Over the World

Born from a corporate merger, it became one of the most reproduced images on Earth.

Author

Dennis Geelen
September 16, 2025

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In 1963, an insurance company in Worcester, Massachusetts, had a problem.

They’d just gone through a messy merger. Morale was low. Employees were grumpy. Customers weren’t thrilled either.

So the company’s PR department turned to a local freelance artist named Harvey Ball and gave him a simple brief:
“Create something cheerful to boost company spirit.”

Ten Minutes, Forty-Five Dollars

Ball sat down at his desk, drew a bright yellow circle, added two black dots for eyes, and a curved line for a mouth.

That was it. No revisions. No brainstorm sessions. No mood boards.

The entire job took ten minutes, and Ball was paid $45.

The company slapped the image on buttons and posters. Employees wore them around, and customers started asking for them too.

Pretty soon, the cheerful little face spread far beyond the office.

From Insurance Gimmick to Global Icon

The yellow smiley face snowballed. By the 1970s, it was on t-shirts, bumper stickers, mugs, you name it. A French journalist added the phrase “Have a Nice Day” underneath it, and the design went viral (decades before the word “viral” existed).

By the 1990s, it was everywhere. From rave culture to Walmart marketing campaigns, the smiley had become a universal symbol of happiness.

And later, in the digital age, it morphed into the foundation of emojis, the tiny faces we now send billions of times every single day. 😊😉🙂

The Happy Accident of Simplicity

Harvey Ball never trademarked his creation. He didn’t get rich. In fact, he once joked that if he had received a single penny for every smiley printed, he’d be a billionaire.

Instead, his $45 doodle became one of the most reproduced images in human history.

What started as a quick fix for low employee morale turned into a global shorthand for joy.

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