It dates to 1944, when pharmacist Benjamin Green invented a lotion to darken tans. The company became famous in 1959 when it introduced the Coppertone girl, an advertisement showing a young blonde girl in pig-tails in shock as a Cocker Spaniel sneaks up behind her and pulls down her blue swimsuit bottoms, exposing her pale white buttocks in stark contrast with her tanned body. Accompanying the ads was the impish slogan, "Don't be a paleface!"
At the turn of the 21st century, Coppertone revised drawings of the Coppertone Girl so that they would be less revealing in an era of heightened sensitivity regarding pedophilia. Some recent versions show only the girl's lower back, as opposed to her buttocks or wearing a T-shirt, a hat, and holding a bottle of Coppertone while the puppy is shown pulling on her shirt.
Swear it was a little brown dog? Yeah, me too. Here's what the picture looks like on bottles: Info from Wikipedia. Picture of bottle from Amazon.
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