17th April 2011 / 5 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
9th May 1969
According to the official Andrex site, the now famous puppy ads were introduced in 1972, so this is probably the last campaign before that runaway success. I’m rather dismayed that they now have dumped on that history from a great height with their new CGI puppies (UGH), but the general message hasn’t really changed. It’s interesting that the campaign now only hints at the softness and strength, because presumably consumers are now well aware of those qualities, and presents the product as one of the many small things which improve the quality of life.
Tags: Andrex, household, retail
13th March 2011 / 5 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
4th April 1969
Yet more evidence that youngsters like myself don’t know they’re born. This converter suggests that £7/17s is worth about £80 in today’s money, yet you can get a cordless version of a similar kettle for £5 in Argos nowadays! However, it’s worth considering that Argos were selling corded kettles in 1985 for £15-20, which is worth roughly £40 today, so the decrease in price seems to have been quite steady, even considering the effect of imported consumer products.
Tags: household, retail, Russell Hobbs
2nd March 2011 / 4 Comments
Woman's Own /
13th June 1969
Seeing as Spring’s in the air, I thought this groovy ad might help us all look forward to seeing the sun on a regular basis. All together now: #Hey, Mr Tambourine Man…#
Tags: beauty, household
10th February 2011 / 2 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
20th March 1965
This all raises the question: what WAS Mrs Earl of Lewisham doing before to strengthen her family’s teeth?
Tags: emotional blackmail, Gibbs, health, household
1st February 2011 / 2 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
23rd May 1969
I imagine most people reading this will remember the Miss Pears competition, which promoted the Pears soap brand in the UK. There’s a newspaper article online suggesting that it ended in around 1997, in reaction to a change in demographic, but it’s a shame that the official Pears site doesn’t work properly in Firefox OR IE8 (seriously, Pears?), so I’ve got no idea what the official reason is!
Tags: blatant sexism, household, kids, Pears, retail
23rd January 2011 / 9 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
9th May 1969
I have to say, this gives an alarming insight into how appalling the washday experience used to be. According to this, automatic washing machines used to not spin dry particularly well, could only fill with either hot or cold water at any particular time, and some customers used to prefer to take their machine to the sink rather than have it drain, for, er, reasons that escape me. We may scoff nowadays, of course, but my mother didn’t have her first automatic washing machine until 8 years after this ad!
Tags: Hoover, household, retail, social history
13th January 2011 / 2 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
20th March 1965
Good old Hoover: there for when the gloss of unending domestic drudgery finally wears off.
Tags: adverts totally made of wrong, blatant sexism, Hoover, household, retail
8th December 2010 / 2 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
16th May 1969
Ooh my, I can’t imagine little boys’ bottoms featuring in print ads nowadays. A shame, because all that does is increase the perception that they ARE sexualised, when most people don’t react like that to children. I’m rather taken with this little chap, because he looks like my boyfriend did when he was small. Aww.
Tags: Germolene, health, household, kids
26th November 2010 / 4 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
4th April 1969
I can’t imagine Kelloggs’ giving away a new house nowadays, or offering a redecoration of a house, but although they’re all excellent prizes, all that comes to mind is the paint smell!
Tags: competition, household, Kelloggs
19th November 2010 / 1 Comment
Woman's Realm /
31st March 1967
Books and toothpaste? An interesting combination, but actually not a bad offer! Just don’t let Junior get his hands on Casino Royale…
Tags: household, retail, Signal