26th November 2009 / Comments (8)
The BSM Reach Out to Women
Woman's Own: 22nd March 1969
Oh my. Don't you just love the sorts of adverts which patronise women horribly, whilst being under the impression they're doing them a favour? Reading this advert, you wouldn't have thought that women in the UK have actually been driving since around WW1, although, to be fair, I do remember my mother telling me that 'women didn't drive' when she was growing up. I'm particularly tickled by the idea that, because housewives were coping with more complex domestic gadgets by 1969, they were better equipped to tackle a big scary car. You can't fault the moral "a washing machine today - the family chauffeur tomorrow!", either. Oh. Sorry. You can.
Comments
The moral for husbands is made of win - "a washing machine today - the family chauffeur tomorrow!"
"We found the breathalyser obviously meant a lot of active encouragement from husbands" Come on ladies, get driving and pick up your drunken husbands from the pub. It'll give you that warm glow of achievement and will help you relax!
I was wondering if the breathalyser comment was trying to say that husbands didn't want their wives on the road because of all the dangerous drunks, but, no, I think your interpretation is correct, Jo! Charming!
What does having gadgets around the house have to do with feeling more at home behind a wheel? I hate driving and I have all sorts of gadgets.
"In a word, thinking driving"
Matthew Wasley pointed me towards this Harry Enfield sketch, which says it all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39qdhbkTko4. Which reminds me: why isn't Harry Enfield and Chums out on DVD?
Blimes. I wonder what the female ambulance drivers during the first world war thought of this advert?!
I love that Harry Enfield sketch and the other ones done like that.
"Modern kitchens make driving easier" might just be my new favourite sentence in the world ever.
By Seb
November 26, 2009 @ 11:44 pm / #
delete / edit