"101 Shockingly Sexist Vintage Ads"

[Shangas]

This is the typewriter ad:

This is the machine it's advertising, the Underwood Model 150 desktop typewriter:

The only thing the ad is saying is that this machine won't damage the nails of the women who use it. How is that SEXIST? I simply don't get it!

Now let's think about something for a minute.

These typewriters are HEAVY. I mean really heavy. A Remington of a similar size weighs at least 40 pounds.

If the ad said something like: "Our new standard typewriters are so light that even a woman can carry them!", and there's a picture of a secretary hauling one up a flight of stairs to her office or something, then I could probably understand.

But THIS? I just don't get it.

 

[CONELRAD]

It's not sexist, like I said earlier, If any product is targeted toward females, someone will call it sexist.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I await the day when a man appears in a tampon ad.

 

[Shangas]

The way things are going, that may happen sooner than you think.

 

[CONELRAD]

Come to think of it, I recall a vintage television commercial for Spic n' Span on the Internet Archive, where someone had commented about the "blatant racism" of ads of the 1950s because the product was called "Spic n' Span".

Case in point, a lot of people are morons.

 

[Shangas]

OH GOD SPIC AND SPAN! *slap!!* You ba***rd!

No seriously. Spic and span just means CLEAN, damn it! how stupid are these people?

But then, in America, they wouldn't show the Australian comedy program "Spics and Specs" for the same reason. Which I think is hilarious.

I mean...sexist ads, racist ads...the day an African American sues the company Schwartzkopf, is the day it's gone too far.

 

[CONELRAD]

It's already gone too far if you ask me, it seems like you can't say anything without being called racist, sexist, or prejudiced in some way.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Ad number 5 is an odd choice - I guess the critics felt it suggests only women could have given away secrets to the enemy during war. In any event, she looks like a woman I dated once so I like it.


Want to see a sexist modern ad? Check this out, a controversy that made big headlines in Canada a year or so ago. The irony - the salon is owned by women, and they defended the ad to the end:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2011/08/30/edmonton-fluid-ad-abuse.html

I took a look at that ad. Evidently they are looking for customers with bad taste in furniture, men, and clothes who want to look like the Bride of Frankenstein`s bridesmaid. I wouldn`t have thought there was a lot of call for that even in Edmonton, a city hockey players consider crude, but what do I know about womens` fashions.

 

[Stanley Doble]

How scandalous!

Seriously though. It's proof, if ever was needed, of the old saying: "The more things change, the more they stay the same".

But you are right. Nothing HAS changed. Cleaning products are still marketed at women. Tools etc., are still marketed at men. Can you imagine a butch, lumberjack guy with his red checked shirt half open and his jeans held up with braces, holding up a bottle of Morning Fresh or something else?

"Nothing but Morning Fresh dishwashing-soap cleans my dishes the way I like 'em. Sparklin' clean and ready to gleam!"

That'd never fly.

That's precisely why these things have stayed the way they have. Because they WORK.

You may think you are kidding but it`s been done. There was a series of TV commercials here in Canada for a brand of dishwashing liquid with the motto `cleans right down to the shine`. They did one ad with women in the kitchen washing dishes and discussing the dishwashing liquid. Later they did the same ad, with the same script, with men. Funniest line was the last line of the ad, when a bearded biker type admires his reflection in a dinner plate and says `` I can see myself`` ha ha ha.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Spic n Span ha ha , what about Niger seed. It is a type of bird seed we put out in bird feeders in the winter, I notice they had to change the name to Nyjer.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Yes, a lot of these ads assume the woman is a housewife, but isn't that part of marketing? You have a product you're aiming toward a certain demographic? There's not a lot of ads for the newest kid's toy being aimed at adults, either.

 

[John in Covina]

The right to be offended - it's in the Constitution.

Let's face it if you try to help a woman pick out a new car and explain the features and benefits you'll find out she bought the one she finally got because it's blue.

 

[Shangas]

Spic n Span ha ha , what about Niger seed. It is a type of bird seed we put out in bird feeders in the winter, I notice they had to change the name to Nyjer.

You wait until you start talking about scientific names. How about "Piper Nigrum"? Better known as black pepper.

 

[CONELRAD]

You wait until you start talking about scientific names. How about "Piper Nigrum"? Better known as black pepper.

I've known some people who seem to think that every use of the word "black" should be replaced with "African American". As in "This is my African American cat" or "Have you seen the African American crayon?" I've even encountered people who think the black Crayola crayon is racist because the name is printed in Spanish as well as English. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if someone thought that the NAACP was racist for having "colored people" in it's name, I guess they'd rather call it the NAAAAP.

Next thing you know, somebody will want to change the name of the country of Niger to "African American", even though it's a completely different word as you know what. And Nigeria to "African Americania". Kids these days.

No offense intended to African American people, of course, just morons.

There's not a lot of ads for the newest kid's toy being aimed at adults, either.

Oh? Some argue that they should be marketed towards parents: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,459185,00.html

Parents Say: "Please, in these days of economic angst, cut back on marketing your products directly to our children."

Toy Makers Say: "...children are a vital part of the gift selection process." (as if that isn't obvious)


Next thing you know, they'll be marketing makeup to men, children's toys to women, power tools to children, and cars to dogs.

 

[Shangas]

Conelrad, your posting is just hilarious. I can't stop grinning at it. It reminded me of this song, from 1926:
[video=youtube;iSlfQ49Bq1s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSlfQ49Bq1s[/video]

I volunteer at a charity thrift-shop. And some of the clothes I see there are truly bizarre. You wonder how anyone wears them, or even fits into them. And then you have clothes which make you wonder which sex they were made for? Probably both.

I started whistling that tune while I was sorting clothes. A friend asked me what it was, and I told him. And he said: "Yeah. Modern society, huh?".

When I told him the song was nearly 100 years old, he got a big shock.

In this international, multicultural world we live in today, everyone's scared of stepping on anyone else's toes. I don't care at ALL for political correctness. I can't stand it. Not one bit. Just like Prohibition, it's a failed social experiment. And the sooner we give it up, the better.

I appreciate the desire to be polite and whatever, but we can do that without nannying everyone and insulting their collective intelligences...if there be any remaining intelligence to insult. Which I am beginning to wonder about.

These "sexist" ads are just one example. Personally, I think it's just a BIG case of reading FAR too much into something that simply isn't there.

For example, there's the ad in that list for kitchen-goods, and it has the slogan: "Stacked for Convenience", and there's a lady there wearing a breast-revealing dress.

OMFG!! STACKS!? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT HER TITTYTATTAS LIKE THAT IN PUBLIC!!??

They're talking about the OVENS you numbskulls! How on earth is that 'sexist'?

 

[Fastuni]

Well, the "stacked" reference is clearly a double entendre, also referring to the woman. Whether this is "shockingly sexist" or not.

I rather take issue with the hypocritical/ignorant contemporary attitude of treating things like sexism as things typical of previous generations. Sexism and innuendo are still a staple of advertisement. No need to look down arrogantly at past eras... not that there is anything terribly wrong about innuendo and the use of cliches or "eye candy" in advertisement, as long as it is in good taste and humor and not overly crude and silly. Some of the "vintage ads" fail at that - as does contemporary advertisement all too often.

As to "political correctness" - one can take take it to both extremes. Oafish boors who try to be rude and provocative while claiming to be "free minds" challenging the oppressive "political correctness" are at least as annoying (often much more) as the touchy exaggerators who are too quickly (pretending) to be "offended". I agree that part of the problem is an infantilization of society. The "compulsive offenders" behave like rude kids and need to learn to be polite, the "perpetually offended" to stop being overly touchy and see a bad intention behind each and everything.
It's not too hard.

BTW the video you posted is simply great.

 

[Shangas]

Thank you

But you're right. This stuff exists in every era of history. I bet if we waited long enough, we'd see the same thing of the ads that we have today.

 

[MisterCairo]

I took a look at that ad. Evidently they are looking for customers with bad taste in furniture, men, and clothes who want to look like the Bride of Frankenstein`s bridesmaid. I wouldn`t have thought there was a lot of call for that even in Edmonton, a city hockey players consider crude, but what do I know about womens` fashions.

Has no one noticed yet the woman in the ad has a black eye, and with the tag line "look good in all you do", it's obvious she's been hit by the guy?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Has no one noticed yet the woman in the ad has a black eye, and with the tag line "look good in all you do", it's obvious she's been hit by the guy?

"We've Come So Far."

 

[stevew443]

I've known some people who seem to think that every use of the word "black" should be replaced with "African American". As in "This is my African American cat" or "Have you seen the African American crayon?" I've even encountered people who think the black Crayola crayon is racist because the name is printed in Spanish as well as English. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if someone thought that the NAACP was racist for having "colored people" in it's name, I guess they'd rather call it the NAAAAP.

Next thing you know, somebody will want to change the name of the country of Niger to "African American", even though it's a completely different word as you know what. And Nigeria to "African Americania". Kids these days.

No offense intended to African American people, of course, just morons.

What I find very funny is that people who have no ties to Africa at all wish to be called African American. One of my Rabbis was born and raised in Spanish Morocco, so he is 100% African since that is the continent of origin. He is a naturalized American citizen, so he is a true African American. If you met him on the street you would not say that he is African American, but a Sefardic Jew with Spanish roots. The people who insist on being called African American have no more ties to Africa than I do to Scotland. My ancestors came from Scotland, but that was so many years ago that I have no ties to Scotland.

Anyway, I found the ads entertaining. I saw several that I remember from my youth and they provided a glimpse into the marketing culture of an era. By its very nature, advertising must be provocative in order to me remembered. If ads do not stick in your mind, then they are failing, so they have to push the limits and it seems that today we have no limits so ads today are going to have to be totally off the wall in order to work.