The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 25

In this day and age is is actually a little hard to believe that this ad is for real. I don’t know exactly when it was printed, but their clothing and hairstyle suggest late seventies, early eighties. That is only 35 years ago. It is even hard to believe that this was printed in the US back then.

Actually even back then being part of designing and texting an ad like this would have been the same as professional and social suicide here in Norway. You would have been on the shit list of every advertising firm in the country and without a social life for years. And women’s libbers (and they were not few around this neck of the wood back then) would have stoned you if the had had the chance.

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Intro 
The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 21 
The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 23
The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 19
The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 18 
The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 22

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The Lure Of The Mad Men–Part 23

“MARRIED – No reason to neglect stockings! Constant runs are unsightly. Husbands admire wives who keep their stockings perfect. Lovely stockings add so much to your appearance Don’t risk constant runs, snacky seams and wrinkles.”

Man, I love the look on that bloke’s face, he looks like he’s looking at something particularly disgusting the cat brought in. Unfortunately I have little experience with stocking runs, snacky seams and wrinkles as my tastes lean more towards the tomboy type of girls. Blue jeans and long gipsy skirts don’t wrinkle that easy. On the other hand, should I ever come across said stockings I hardly think my reaction would quite match the bloke on the picture’s.

Besides, I’m not married anymore and haven’t been for 20 years and my girlfriend is 21 years younger than me and you don’t criticise all that much then 😉 – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 22

Here we got an ad that goes right to the point visitors. If you didn’t catch the “action zone” badge it’s time to go bed or maybe to an optician. Unfortunately the ad leave it up to our sordid imaginations to guess exactly what the “action zone” really is. Is he wearing a pair of pants that let him get his pecker out in a flash, or is it a pair of pants extra well suited for a little pocket tennis. Or is it simply a pair of pants that leaves room for a solid woody. Who knows?

And while our sordid minds still ponder what the “action zone” might be we catch “Now With Extra Large Snack Sack!” and our imagination gets even more sordid fuel. Well, what ever it is, the man’s lady friend seems to be rather satisfied with both his “Action Zone” and his “Snack Sack” unlike her poodle.

PS! I’m fully aware of the fact that we again might have to do with a photoshoped ad, but do I care. It gave me a big healthy laugh that ended in a rather naughty snicker. And what more can you ask.

If any of you visitors out there has more information on these strange pair of pants, please share – Ted 😉

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 21

These strange laxative ads from the fifties turns up all over the place for the time being and they makes me wonder what ever children over there in the US ate back then. I can’t remember ever having needed a laxative and least of all as a child and neither can I remember any of my friends back then needing any. Another thing I notice is that the child is always a boy child as though it was quite all right to force feed girl children with medicines of all sort.

Well, that was a digression. Over to the ad it self. Notice that this particular laxative contains nature’s own vegetable products, as if there are any other sort. (My guess would be beans or yellow peas, we all know how those suckers set the bowls in motion).

The text people must have had a field day with this one and the slogan is a classic; “Taste So Good Children Lick the Spoon!” Yeah, right.

And don’t miss the bottom line: “Especially Made For Infants and Children of All Ages”. Tell me, isn’t that almost what they used to print on board games in the old days.

The game is on! Let’s have a few spoonful’s and see who farts first – Ted

 

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 20

I’ve spent the first 19 parts of this series dissing members of the advertising profession so since I have been at least semi part of the profession for about 30 years I thought it was time to show an ad I have nothing what so ever against. (Apart for the fact that I wouldn’t be found dead in a ditch in a BMW, but that is more because the kind of people that usually choose to buy one around here than the car itself.)

The ad is clear in its concept, straight to the point and best of all, cruel enough to drive that point home. Just like a campaign like this need to be. For the first time on this blog; Well done Mad Men – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 19

The first time I saw this ad on the net I laughed so much I almost fell off my chair. Finally an ad playing fully on men’s insecurities and self-esteem. And so boldly texted I find it hard to believe it was easy to place in most magazines.

It can’t have been much fun driving round in an ‘89 911 Carrera 4 for a while after that ad hit the magazine pages, a lot of Porsche owners must have been the victim of rather nasty comments about their lack of size, particularly from men who themselves couldn’t afford a car like that.

By the way, I’m quite aware that the ad may be a fake made by some net prankster, but I love it anyway – Ted

In context

Two guys were sitting on a front porch when a blonde walked by. “Let me show you how stupid blondes are” one of them said to the other and he called the blonde over. When she reached them he said “I’ll give you $10 if you paint my porch white”. “Ok” the blonde answered. The man told her she’d find paint and brushes round the corner and the two men went in to have lunch. An hour later the blond came in and said “I’m finished, give me my $10”.

They went out to check her work and found the porch was still unpainted. “You’re not finished” the man said angrily. “Of course I am” the blond replied and continued “Besides it’s not a Porsche, it is a Ferrari”.

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 18

“Muscles are the new thin” is the new slogan around Europe these days and young women hit the training centres every day and eat so healthy that it becomes unhealthy. back in the days when the Mad Men cooked up the ad above the ideals were quite different. Young women were supposed to have forms, both here and there actually.

The add is terrible, particularly the drawings numbered 1,2 and 3, but there is a grain of truth in it some how. Most men prefer woman with forms. But does that justify making thin women feel bad about themselves. look at how the artist has made the thin woman’s face ugly and how she looks when she has gained a bit of weight. And do you think this is accidental. Get off it, it’s an ad for something that makes you gain weight – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 17

The stupidity in these ads are so obvious that I feel comments are almost unnecessary. Enough to say is that the most brainless is Diesel themselves – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 16

The Mad Men realy pulled out all the stops on this one. Playing on a broad spectre of insecurities using scary words like dirt, mucus, germs and serum and adding an etc. for good measure in case those were not scary enough. And a real tearjerker of a story about poor Mary of course and don’t forget the punch line: Be sure that Mary’s heartbreak does not become yours.

I’ve lived with quite a few women during my 60 years, but none of those had such a collection of nastiness down under. And still none of them used Lysol or other germicides or disinfectants (what terrible words in this connection) but soap believe it or not –Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 15

A very typical car ad from the Mad Men from back in the days. If they couldn’t ridicule women as drivers  they used them, usually lightly dressed or in some tantalising situation or both, like here, to sell just about any product that had nothing to do with lightly dressed women.

Were really men back then so easily manipulated that four good looking women behind a screen would make them consider buying a car. I freely admit that I enjoy images of lightly dressed women, but would one make me buy a car. Not bloody likely – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 14

If there is one thing the mad men knows works every time, it is telling people that you can get slim and fit without doing a damned thing. People will buy and gulp down absolutely anything based on that promise. Anyone knows deep down inside that Prof. F. J. Kellogg’s crappy “scientific” product is just as useless as the drugs and patent medicines he is warning against. But instead of considering actually slimming, now as back then people get hooked in case this particular product just might work.

But as we all know it doesn’t work of course. Not the ones back when the add above was made or the similar crap they’re pushing today. Had it worked there wouldn’t have been one lazy fat slob left in the overfed self indulging western world – Ted 😉

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The lure Of The Mad Men – Part 12

Doesn’t it strike you too as more than a bit stupid, to get up in the morning, take a shower, shave, get dressed, put on your ridiculous tie and then go back to bed just so that your wife can give you breakfast. And even more stupid that the reason she is willing to do this is because that ridiculous brand new man-talking, power-packed patterned tie is a something usually worn just by men.

And shouldn’t the mad man who drew the illustration have gone for a more powerful looking man, the sod in the bed up there looks like his cerebral capacity has got their hands full just to keep his lungs and heart going. Quite honestly, it looks like his wife brings him breakfast just because making it him self seams beyond the reach of his mental ability and I hardly think that’s what the text man meant when he wrote “it’s a man’s world” – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 10

The mad men knew their trade back in the twenties and thirties too. And this particular lure works just as well to day. Tell people that they can get slim by doing nothing but popping a pill or two and you got them hooked. Promise no starving diets and no taxing exercises and people will head for their druggist to day as well no matter what the remedy costs or what it contains. People were fools back then and people are fools now. And the mad men now as then are laughing all the way to the bank – Ted

By the way, how can you grow slim 😉

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The Lure Of the Mad Men – Part 9

Text from the ad
P.S. to husbands:
She cares about her home you know, so if you really care about her. . .
wouldn’t it be a good idea to consider a Hoover for Christmas?
Prices starts at $64,95- Model 29 (shown here $95,95).
Low down payment; easy terms. See your Hoover dealer now.

“She cares about her home you know” – what a load of crap. No woman on earth wants a Hoover for Christmas, she may want a Hoover. But for Christmas, get of it. What woman want a cheapskate for a husband. She wants a personal present for Christmas and a Hoover just any bloody day 😉

If my girlfriend had reacted like the woman in the illustration when given a vacuum cleaner for Christmas I would have considered having her institutionalized. On the other hand there is no chance of it, it is more likely that I would have woken the next morning with the bloody thing stuffed up my ass no matter what the Mad Men were trying to tell me  – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 8

Text from this 1957 Listerine ad:

Somebody Loves Me…

When other girls of her age were out with their boy friends of a Saturday night, Marilyn sat home with Rover. Good, old faithful Rover … he didn’t mind the trouble* that put Marilyn in wrong wherever she went.

Even your best friend won’t tell you
The insidious thing about *halitosis (unpleasant breath) is that you, yourself, seldom realize you’re guilty of it . . . and even your best friend won’t tell you.

You needn’t be a wallflower
Why risk offending needlessly? And why trust to lesser precautions that deodorize only momentarily? Why not let Listerine Antiseptic look after your breath with that wonderful germ-killing action? Listerine instantly stops bad breath and keeps it stopped usually for hours on end . . . four times better than any tooth paste.

No toothpaste kills odour germs like this . . . instantly
Listerine Antiseptic does for you what no tooth paste does. Listerine instantly kills bacteria … by millions-stops bad breath instantly, and usually for hours on end.

You see, far and away the most common cause of offensive breath is the bacterial fermentation of proteins which are always present in the mouth. And research shows that your breath stays sweeter longer, depending upon the degree to which you reduce germs in the mouth.

Listerine clinically proved
4 times better than toothpaste
Is it any wonder Listerine Antiseptic in recent clinical tests averaged at least four times more effective in stopping bad breath odours than the chlorophyll products or tooth pastes it was tested against? Make it a habit to always gargle Listerine, the most widely used antiseptic in the world.

 

The mad men are pulling out all the stops here, both the text people and the image people. No woman or young girl is going to feel safe after having read the text and seen the picture. Here they’re playing on insecurity, fear of loneliness, fear of offending others, fear of being left out just to mention the most obvious.

The image alone is close to heartless and together with the text it is beyond ruthless and Listerine milked this concept for all it was worth, sometimes directed towards young girls like this ad and sometimes directed towards grown women like the the one in the thumbnail here – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 7

Ad from Saturday Evening Post, February 18th 1956

Text from the ad:
Proud mothers, please forgive us if we too feel something of the pride of a new parent. For new Philip Morris, today’s Philip Morris, is delighting smokers everywhere. Enjoy the gentle pleasure, the fresh unfiltered flavour, of this new cigarette, born gentle, then refined to special gentleness in the making. Ask for new Philip Morris in the smart new package.

The worst thing about this ad is not the text even though it is bad enough, it is the illustration indicating that it’s safe for mothers to smoke in company with new-born children as long as they smoke the new Philip Morris. The Mad Men working for the tobacco industry was among the most heartless of them all and they kept on working like this long after it was proven without a shadow of a doubt that both active and passive smoking was severely harmful – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 6

I’m a hot drink drinker. Coffee, tea, cocoa, toddies, you name it, I drink it. And anyone who drink as much coffee as I do know that  crap like instant coffee will never brings you better flavour than ground coffee. Besides if it’s all coffee wouldn’t that naturally make it 100% coffee, so what’s the need for making a point of it.

That old “get your money back” trick always work, because if you don’t find instant coffee a better tasting coffee you think there’s something wrong with you as everybody else seems to do. And who wants to look like an idiot just to get a few cent back on a product.

Nescafé’s instant coffee was just one of many products in the food and drink sector that turned up in the early fifties where the lure was plain laziness. Instant this and that flooded the marked like there was no tomorrow  – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 6

Text from the ad:

Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things. If your wife hit something in a Volkswagen, it doesn’t hurt you very much. WV parts are easy to replace. and cheap. A fender comes off without dismantling half the car. A new one goes on with just ten bolts. For $24.95 plus labour.

And a WV dealer always has the kind of fender you need. Because that’s the only kind he has. Most other WV parts are interchangeable too. inside and out. Which means your wife isn’t limited to fender smashing. she can jab the hood, grace the door. Or bump off the bumper.

It may make you furious, but it won’t make you poor. So when your wife goes window-shopping in a Volkswagen, don’t worry. You can conveniently replace anything she uses to stop the car. Even the breaks.

Sexist ads were not only quite common in the fifties, sixties, and seventies but were used deliberately to make men feel superior to women and there by make them more receptive for the real message in the ad. It was of course impossible to think that a man could hit something with a car, even though statistics would have shown that most car crashes were done by men. But then again, the Mad Men have never dealt in reality, have they – Ted

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 5

First tell a woman that it’s not only all right to drink red wine all day, but it restores you back to your old self again. Then show a picture of a woman that looks both happy and pretty plastered and then send her a free sample. Well done Mad Men, it just can’t go wrong – Ted

In context:
Sanotogen tonic wine is simply a brand of alcoholic beverage produced by the traditional combination of full bodied Ruby British Wine and the special ‘Sanatogen’ formula to form an exceptional mellow flavour.
From ask.com

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The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 4

The Mad Men always keep their ears close to the ground so as soon as there were women wealthy enough to by their own cars they started targeting car ads towards women. And the fact that wives had a say in what car the family should buy did not slip pass them either. They even went as far as having dresses designed specially for certain models. And vanity is a great lure – Ted

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