Gypsy Creams

The BSM Reach Out to Women

Woman's Own / 21st 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.

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8 Comments

Seb on 26 November 2009 @ 10pm

“Modern kitchens make driving easier” might just be my new favourite sentence in the world ever.


Jam Shambles on 27 November 2009 @ 1am

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!


Tanya Jones on 27 November 2009 @ 8am

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!


Morgy on 27 November 2009 @ 9am

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.


Dave on 27 November 2009 @ 9am

“In a word, thinking driving


Tanya Jones on 27 November 2009 @ 2pm

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?


Bec on 27 November 2009 @ 3pm

Blimes. I wonder what the female ambulance drivers during the first world war thought of this advert?!


Morgy on 30 November 2009 @ 12pm

I love that Harry Enfield sketch and the other ones done like that.


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