1928 Advertisement

Advertisements have undergone significant changes throughout the last century and this particular ad is a tribute to just how far societies values have changed the advertising and marketing sector over the years. However, after the analysis of this particular image it can be determined that there are still similarities between advertisements from then until now.
This ad was published in 1928 for Lux soap brand, a dishwashing detergent.
Judging from the opening caption and the size of font we are able to determine that the target audience for this advertisement is 'girls'. Wash dishes!' is also in italics which allows it to stand out as the second most important line in the headline after 'girls'. By hailing girls as the intended audience this advertiser is attributing them with the washing of dishes and by making the words 'girls' and 'wash dishes' stand out from the rest of the font the advertiser is essentially telling the audience that if you are a girl you should wash dishes.
The caption as a whole however is a prime example of the sexist underpinnings that this advertisement is portraying. By hailing girls as the audience and trying to capture their attention through their apparent want for 'pretty hands' the advertiser is reducing females as a whole to housekeepers who are looking for ways to multitask both their housework and beauty upkeep. Needless to say, this ad could never be published in today's society as the brand would be condemned for their gender stereotyping and sexist values.
The fact that this ad was published in 1928 is truly representative of the values that were widely accepted at the time in North American society as the majority of women were stay at home mothers and would have found this ad to be persuasive. Many women were most likely intrigued by this idea of beauty and housework combined.
Another detail to note about this advertisement is the picture at the top. The image is of a woman who looks as though she is thoroughly enjoying doing the dishes. The woman looks like your average everyday housewife and is nothing spectacular. By using an average housewife within the image the advertiser may have been trying to appeal to the middle class or even lower class women. The target demographic is made even more clear with the words at the bottom of the advertisement that states 'Lovely hands for less than a cent a day'. The use of the average housewife image in combination with the cost effective caption, the advertiser is insinuating that if they use Lux soap even they could have pretty hands without the need to spend ridiculous amounts of money. In face they are saving money because they are getting dish soap AND pretty hands that would usually only come through relatively pricey lotions.
Finally, the advertisement was given, what appears to be, the home-maker stamp of approval. The fact that a home-makers stamp of approval even existed is fascinating within todays day and age but what is even more interesting is that this stamp most likely would have helped this product sell better at the time. It is yet again another example of how our values have changed.

Although by analyzing this ad it is easy to point out how much our society and values in regards to gender stereotypes within advertising have changed it is also interesting to evaluate how similar they still are. Granted that advertisements can no longer be this blunt in regards to their sexist connotations, their still are underlying gender stereotypes within our ads. The prominent use of women within cleaning products ads for example could be directly linked to the the same mentality used in this advertisement. Their are also seals of approval, not by home makers, but by companies like brand power, telling us which products work best. So, just because the 'home-maker seal of approval' is not longer considered to be a respectable authority does not mean that we do not look for some sort of approval from those who 'know best'. And realistically, those who do approve products most likely get their information from those who use the products within their home. Therefore, although the copy can not be produced as it was in 1928, their are still similarities to advertisements that we see everyday in 2012.