Youngest Customers In Business
It's safe to say that if this advertisement was produced in today's society, there would be absolute outrage at the sight of a small baby drinking soda! One cannot help but cringe at the fact that a popular soda brand, 7Up, once used babies as a marketing tool in order to boost their sales. Boasting that you have the youngest customers in the business when your product is something detrimental to peoples' health is seriously not cool...
2
Didn't Burn The Beer!
Oh look, it's a wife who burnt her husband's dinner...But don't worry, he says, "you didn't burn the beer!" This vintage advertisement comes from an era when a woman's 'job' was to simply cook and clean. A wife who couldn't cook up to the standards of her husband was frowned upon, and this advertisement is a clear emphasis of this. Perhaps the husband ought to cook his own dinner next time...
3
Cocaine Toothache Drops?
Nope, it's not a misprint! It seems as though back in the 1800s, cocaine was used for its medicinal properties. According to this vintage advertisement, even children were encouraged to use the then-legal substance. Freaky! Can you just imagine giving a small child some cocaine toothache drops to ease their teething problems? We bet it caused a lot more problems than it cured...
4
Smoking Camels
It's a thought that would seem almost nonsense in this day and age - someone as respected in the health community as a doctor, smoking? But worst than that, this vintage advertisement encourages smoking, boasting that because more doctors smoke Camel cigarettes, then they must be good for your health! This cigarette company could not have got it more wrong...Our favourite part would have to be the explanation of the T-zone as "throat" and "taste". Oh, these kooky advertisements.
5
What Wives Are For
It's enough to get a lot of people's blood boiling, but remember, this advertisement is from an era when things were quite 'backward'. The word 'wife' was synonymous with 'cooking' and 'cleaning', and women who had joined the workforce to pursue a career outside of the home were frowned upon. All we can say is thank goodness the times have changed! It is advertisements such as this one that really makes you realize just how far we've come.
6
Should Have Store-Tested
Wow, this vintage advertisement is wrong on so many levels, most notably, the fact that it uses domestic violence against women as a marketing tool. You read it correctly though, if women weren't 'store-testing' for fresher coffee then their husband would have to 'teach them a lesson'...This advertisement would send absolute shock waves through our society if it was produced in today's day and age. It's safe to say that we don't think there will be advertisements like this one ever again.
7
Girl Around The House
There are so many things wrong with this advertisement, but where do we begin?! Firstly, women are compared to animals that must be hunted. Secondly, that guy has his foot on the woman's head! Thirdly, the woman was "floored" because she saw this man wearing a certain brand of trousers? This advertisement is enough to make your head spin. Someone should have grabbed a red marker and wrote the words "banned" across this advertisement as soon as it was released!
8
Illegal To Kill A Woman?
Just to answer this advertisement's question: Yes, it is illegal to kill anyone, duh! This is another one of those vintage ads that places men on a much higher plane than women. Even reading the text on this ad is enough to make someone puke! "'Kinda cute, ain't it?' says Miss Morissey. 'Now the mail is out early enough so I get to the girl's room in time to hear all of the dirt'". Even portrayals of working women were tarnished with stereotypes and sexism!
9
Innocence
Yikes! Someone had better file this one under 'sexualization of children', because the girl in this vintage advertisement looks like a small child! It's refreshing to realize how strict both the public and the media are about sensitive topics such as the representation of children. We always knew that woman and other ethnicities often got the bad end of the deal when it came to advertisements, but we never expected children to also be exploited so much for a company's gain!
10
Men Are Better
Looks like there might be quite a few women who would like to punch this company in the face for their offensive text. "Indoors, women are useful...On a mountain, they are something of a drag". Most of the time, it was probably the wives buying their husband's clothes for him, so we're not exactly sure that this brand considered that when trying to advertise how great their climbing sweaters are. We weren't even aware of the fact that one requires a special 'climbing sweater' as opposed to a normal sweater...
11
Hard Work = Cute?
It's nice to know that vitamin companies have changed their advertising techniques dramatically. We also wonder how many women actually chose to do the housework whilst wearing heels? These vintage advertisements pose too many questions, particularly because they're (thankfully) from another era.
12
Santa...Smoking?
What do you get for the guy who has everything? According to this vintage advertisement, Santa loves a pack of cigarettes for Christmas. He even believes that it is a gift that "brings pleasure to every home". Lets just hope that doesn't mean the children and the household pet were smoking them too! Thankfully, times have changed a bit, and Santa is now content with looking after his health and settling for a cookie and a glass of milk each Christmas instead...
13
Cola Is The Cure
Can you even believe your eyes? This advertisement states: "Babies who start drinking soda during that early formative period have a much higher chance of gaining acceptance and "fitting in" during those awkward pre-teen and teen years". The advertisement even tries to persuade people that soda promotes an active lifestyle, boosts personality and gives the body essential sugars. Firstly, no sugars are "essential"! And secondly, have you ever read a bigger load of garbage in your life? Cringe-worthy...
14
Man's World
Van Heusen, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves! Advertisements such as this one were common many years ago, when it was widely considered that women were the weaker sex. The number one job of any wife was to please her husband, and to be at his beck and call. Perhaps it's time this advertisement got ripped up into a thousand tiny pieces and placed in a bin, because this is one message that no longer has a place in 21st century society.
15
Is She Pretty?
This vintage advertisement reinforces a seemingly ancient stereotype; it was important for a woman to look pretty and beautiful, but brains or intelligence were considered a hindrance, or not important. The times have certainly changed, and thankfully, Palmolive are no longer creating advertisements such as this one. Society may have a long way to go, but at least we can look back every now and then and be thankful that we have moved forward in many ways.
