What were they thinking? Frighteningly Insulting Retro Advertising.
If advertising campaigns reflect the values of society at a particular point in time, then these ads from last century show us what a racist, sexist, ignorant and insulting hundred-odd-years they were. From selling fire-arms to children, using doctors to sell cigarettes, and condescending sexism to sell just about anything to the little old housewife, with the benefit of 21 Century hindsight it’s surprising the ad industry was able to sell much of anything to anyone. I wonder if we look back on today’s campaigns in another hundred years whether we might have further evolved as a society to make our current set of social values seem equally out of whack.

 

 

Dave Ansett
Truly Deeply Founder & Creator of Brands
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