Ads: How Much Have We Really Changed?

You see ads everywhere. Your phone, TV, billboards on the way to work, radios, and many more that you'd probably never think you actually see. Many times you'll see ads in an almost trance like stage of being zoned out and never realize you saw it, but knowing about it anyways. They've been around for many years and even been many shows on the ad business like Mad Men. But how much have ads changed from then to now?

Mad Men is a period drama set in the 1960s based on the men and women that work on Madison Avenue, famous for advertising companies. The series follow the main character, Donald Draper, played by Jon Hamm, who is the creative director for the ad agency. The series follows not only his personal struggles, but the behind the scenes look of what gets put into the idea process of ads to where they are finally conceived. It is a fantastic show that does not beat around the bush. It shows the sexism that not only ran within their ad agency but in society and the ads themselves. They never showed it as a funny moment. It was all meant to feel very real. Even in moments that may be funny you got a sense of what it really was like in that time period. So what has actually changed in the industry and ads themselves since? Have we done better? Or is it just as bad as it was then.

The above video is a good show of how the idea process possibly went into ads. Even to this day it could be very similar from agency to agency. Even having a woman in the boardroom to ask for an opinion from was not good enough. In this scene Peggy gives her opinion on the marketing of bras to women but is pushed down quickly because they feel they know better than her, a woman. Seems silly when you say it out loud but this wasn't uncommon at all. Even in the show Peggy being in the boardroom to discuss these ideals would've been uncommon at this time. Most women were only used as secretaries.

"The best ones are thin and rich."

Looking at these ads now is pretty shocking. But during this time this was common. It was believed that women needed to only be stay at home mothers and couldn't work in businesses. So they made their ads and marketing to women they saw as stay at home moms that would be going to the store to shop for their husband and family. Women during this time wanted to do more, but many would not be allowed to by the men in charge. Even worse was being a woman of color. Some women could be at least secretaries or call transferring but if you were a woman of color your chances of getting any job were even less. So how are we doing today?

Well...I would like to say we have come a long way but then you see some of this and wonder. As a society I truly believe we have gotten better but still far from perfect. In this Burger King ad the woman who is in the picture had no idea that her picture would be used in such a way. Dr. Pepper tried to go the Old Spice direction and failed miserably. Not only putting down women but bolstering toxic masculinity. The Mr. Clean (not their first time of having sexist type ads) ad said for people to get their mothers cleaning supplies as a present for Mother's Day so they could, " Get Back To The Job That Really Matters," insinuating that cleaning was more important than a woman's actual job. Luckily most of these ads were quickly pulled from mainstream marketing out of public backlash.

So what about in the actual offices? Has the ad agency life changed for women? Well it would seem it depends and can change from agency to agency. In The New York Times article entitled "It's Still a 'Mad Men' World" they ask multiple women who work for ad agencies their perception of the advertising world. "There is the rapey talk and the grabby hands, but it's that subtle stuff that's chronic and can be more damaging," said Jean Batthany, executive creative director at DDB Chicago. To this day many of the women feel that they can be in the room with male leaders and still not be acknowledged in the industry. Women make up almost 50 percent of the people that work in advertising but only a handful are in the highest position of CEO. While we have made many strides to being more socially inclusive and aware we still have a long way to go. To think that such big companies like Dr. Pepper and Burger King can still make ads that are so numb and insensitive to gender and even race in this day and age is disheartening. But I truly believe that as a society we are learning and striving for a better future. Maybe this trend will never truly end, but we push to become better and teach our future generations to learn from our mistakes.

Here are a few websites that can give you more information behind my blog:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2018/01/11/before-metoo-there-was-mad-men/AArbRMiy3ZUN6aaulospdK/story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/business/media/for-women-in-advertising-its-still-a-mad-men-world.html?module=inline

https://www.businessinsider.com/26-sexist-ads-of-the-mad-men-era-2014-5

---