One of my passions is retro. All that good stuff from the 50's, 60's and 70's. Furniture, homewares, fabrics, design. A passion that runs deep and several years saw me walking away from a promising career to chase an entrepreneurial dream of running my own business. Atomic Pop was located in Stepney and I sold nothing but retro. In the end my market in Adelaide was so niche it was unsustainable and I closed the doors of the shop to concentrate on dealing with interstate retro dealers.
One of my guilty pleasures to this day is retro magazines. The fashions, the design and the print ads. Oh, the print ads. They are a brilliant reflection of how society has changed. Most would never get pitched these days, let along get published. In no particular order here are a few of the more cringe-worthy!
1. 7 Up. Nothing does it like 7 Up. This campaign features a baby drinking soft drink from the bottle. Sure, the current obesity crisis demonstrates that this probably happens on some level today - but no soft drink manufacturer today is going to use this.
2. Tipalet Cigarettes. Blow in her face and she'll follow you anywhere. Apart from the blatant glamourised cigarette advertising, the advertising tagline leaves a lot to be desired. A deliberate double entendre? Maybe it didn't have different connotations in those days. Somehow I doubt it.
3. Bon Ami. It was the 1950s. We've all seen Mad Men. Well before the sexual revolution. A time when chauvinism and sexism were unfortunately the norm.
4. Camel Cigarettes. More doctors smoke camels than any other cigarette. I wonder what sample they used to draw that conclusion. Even if the tobacco companies were still able to advertise, I doubt they would try such fallacious appeals to authority today. No, they'd use a celebrity instead.
5. Chesterfield Cigarettes. Yet more cigarette advertising extoling the health benefits of cigarettes. Smoking is good for you!
6. Lane Bryant. Free for chubbies. How generous! This company produce a free catalogue full of clothing for "chubbies". These days we have product ranges and stores that cater for larger sizes. Would any dare call their customers "chubbies"?
7. Chase and Sanborn Coffee. What do domestic violence and coffee have in common? I find this particular ad depressing. Amazingly this coffee brand is still going strong.
8. The Soda Pop Board Of America. Is this Ground Zero for today's obesity epidemic? Forget breastfeeding - for a better start in life start cola earlier!
9. Hotpoint. Please let your wife come in the living room. More 1950s headshaking. Man of the house in the living room with the Hotpoint TV, while the sub-serviant wife loads the Hotpoint dishwasher.
10. Ovaltine. To wake up gay in the morning. A different time, a different meaning.
11. Hoover. She'll be happier with a Hoover. I know what would happen in my house if I gave my wife a vacuum cleaner for a gift!
12. Kenwood Chef. That's what wives are for. When they're not vacuuming I suppose?
13. Pitney Bowes Postage Meter. Is it always illegal to kill a woman? Who is this campaign targeted at?
14. Pep Vitamins. The harder a wife works, the cuter she looks. Shocking.
15. Bell & Howell Projectors. Sabrina. What's with this womans chest?
16. Delmonte Ketchup. You mean a woman can open it?
17. Subaru. Like a spirited woman who yearns to be tamed.
18. Van Heusen Ties. Show her it's a mans world.
So what do you think? Have our advertising standards improved? Or are we still committing the same sins?
#2 "Blow in my ear and I'll follow you anywhere" was a catchphrase on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In tv show.
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