David McConnell started the California Perfume Company (CPC) in 1886. Today the company is known as Avon, which he named after his favorite playwright William Shakespeare, and Stratford on Avon

As of 2010, Avon had annual sales of $10.8 billion worldwide. It is the fifth-largest beauty company and largest direct selling enterprise in the world, with 6.4 million representatives. Avon Products is a multi-level marketing company. Their “Ding Dong Avon Calling” advertising campaign, which ran from the mid-1950s to 1967, has been called “one of the most deeply ingrained brand identities of the past century”. The company’s CEO is Sherilyn S. McCoy, who was appointed to that position in April 2012. The former CEO, Andrea Jung, became the executive chairman of the board. Jung was the longest tenured female CEO among Fortune 500 companies.