3rd May 2010 / 1 Comment
Woman's Realm /
11th March 1967
Erm…I’m stunned. For foreign or younger readers, the Minipops was a short-lived UK show with children dancing and signing, often dressed to be a bit older than they really were, so they’d look like the acts they were taking off. It was unsurprisingly taken off the air once questions were raised in the media about the ethics of the show. This ad seems to come from the same sort of mindset, and surely wouldn’t make it into print nowadays, even though it’s clearly meant in an innocent way. However, it’s only fair to point out the hysteria over paedophilia sits uncomfortably with some of the clothes and toys marketed at young girls in the UK, so we’re probably more confused over children’s sexuality now than we were back then.
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, fashion, kids, misplaced morality, retail, social history
26th January 2010 / 4 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
26th July 1957
Ah, so many questions, all of which can probably be covered by “Who? What?” and “Why?”. Yes, milk of magnesia can neutralise stomach acid, but I can only surmise that putting it in a toothpaste was a ill-thought out idea, as I’ve never heard of it being able to prevent tooth cavities. Seeing as the Wikipedia article also mentions magnesium hydroxide’s propensity to cause diarrhoea, I can only imagine that the product was quickly taken off the market due to customer, ahem, feedback…
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, dodgy advice, health, retail
23rd January 2010 / 3 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
9th March 1957
Because, y’know, a bit of rough skin might damage them irreversibly, or something. All part of the rather depressing message sent to women that they not also had to work all the day long in the house, but they couldn’t show any symptoms of having done so, because reality might upset not only their husband, but their children as well.
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, blatant sexism, emotional blackmail, marriage, motherhood, retail, social history
12th December 2009 / 5 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
2nd August 1957
Crikey, this is the advertising equivalent of shouting “GET ON WITH YOUR BLOODY WORK AND STOP MOANING!” in some poor woman’s face. Note that no-one’s casting doubt on whether the husband’s the same man she married, probably because, well, yes, he IS: because when he got married, all he did was swap his mum for his wife, with regular sex as an added extra. And if his wife wasn’t happy with that? Well, it must be HER fault…
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, blatant sexism, dodgy advice, emotional blackmail, marriage, retail, Sanatogen
21st November 2009 / 9 Comments
Wow. Although I’m very happy bringing you the best/worst of advertising from my own collection, the Times have displayed a collection of images from blogs who are focusing on outrageously sexist adverts. My favourite is the Lysol advert, which made me cover my lady parts in horror, especially when the ad talked about alternative ‘remedies’, like salt. Salt?! Enjoy, gentle readers…
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, blatant sexism, dodgy advice, emotional blackmail, marriage, retail
13th November 2009 / 7 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
26th July 1957
Yes, no wonder John grumbled, when he was used to women looking after him all day from birth. Why would he understand how tiring housework actually was pre-white goods, when he never had to do it? Luckily, Lucozade is marketed as a sports energy drink nowadays: for BOTH sexes.
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, blatant sexism, emotional blackmail, Lucozade, marriage, retail
5th November 2009 / 2 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
9th March 1957
Hm. I don’t have a problem with giving children something to ease symptoms of illness at all, but I don’t think this type of emotional blackmail is quite on, do you?
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, blatant sexism, dodgy advice, emotional blackmail, health, kids, motherhood, retail
27th October 2009 / 4 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
9th March 1957
Good lord. I don’t know quite what to say, apart from: how does getting married to a young surgeon in the Indian Army give you body hair? Surely this woman would already be used to it, if she’s gone through puberty? I don’t understand.
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, beauty, blatant sexism, dodgy advice, retail, social history
19th October 2009 / 9 Comments
Woman's Own /
9th August 1968
Yeah, you all know why this is here. I believe the modern version is called ‘Adios’. And here’s the old British TV ad, courtesy of TV Offal (clip ‘may not be suitable for minors’).
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, beauty, blatant sexism, diets, dodgy advice, retail
19th October 2009 / 8 Comments
Woman /
21st April 1967
Well, that’s me speechless. Has anyone else seen a perfume ad as pretentious as this one? What are all those men planning? No wonder she looks pensive…
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, beauty, blatant sexism, retail