We’ve come a long way, girls …
It took me a while to get a grip on TV’s best known ad men, ‘Mad Men’ with all the drinking, the smoking and the two-timing but once I started watching the episodes, I must admit it got me hooked. Mad Men, hailed as one of TV’s brilliantly done series, covers the lives of men and women in a fictitious advertising agency, Sterling Cooper Draper Price (SCDP), during the roaring 60s. Aside from the fabulous 60s fashion with minis, beehive hair dos and the brightest colour palate of the day, Mad Men revolves around the dapper Don Draper, the protagonist, the handsome and talented but troubled Creative Director at SCDP.
Ambitious 60s’ women
What has assured Mad Men its place in television’s hall of fame and the awards of course is not merely its storyline, the cast, the costumes or the plots. It is also credited with plotting the rise of women in advertising at a time when they mostly served ad agencies and other companies as secretaries. Peggy Olsen, who rose from Secretary to Don Draper to Senior Copywriter and Joan Harris, who went on to become a partner of the agency from secretarial rank, play key roles in the TV drama.
The 60s were indeed a time of turmoil and birthed the feminist movement. The progress of Peggy and Joan at SCDP doesn’t beg to be politically correct but is achieved with a lot of hard work and at times, as in the case of Joan, who agreed to perform sexual favours for a client in return for a partnership, personal cost. Yet, women back then it seems, were as ambitious as they are today.
Mad Men observers believe that Peggy’s character maybe loosely based on some of the pioneer ad women of the time. Shirley Polykoff was one such woman. Her brilliant take on Clairol hair colour, ‘Does she or doesn’t she?’ increased sales of Clairol from 25 million to 200 million annually.
Although the whole push of her campaign for Clairol was empowering women to take charge of their own lives, Polykoff did not want to be seen earning more than her husband – she insisted the ad agency cap her salary at US $ 25,000 annually. When her husband passed away, the agency doubled her salary and promoted her.
Changing gender landscape
Mary Wells is yet another advertising pioneer who in 1969, was reported to be advertising’s highest paid executive. She was selected by U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockerfeller to be a member of his Commission on Critical Choices for America and invited by U.S. President Gerard Ford to represent business at an Economic Summit in Washington D.C.
Her campaign for Alka Setzer, ‘I can’t believe I ate the whole thing’ earned her a Clio Award in 1971. Among her other memorable campaigns were ‘Flick your Bic’, ‘Raise your hand if you are Sure’ and ‘Friends don’t let friends drive drunk’.
These were women who thought of changing the gender landscape at the time reshaping the world of advertising and consumerism, being able to create campaigns and messages that addressed women. As laced throughout the Mad Men series, there was very present and very real gender discrimination at the time.
Women faced, lived with and often overcame barriers that forbid them from taking control over their lives. Although the bra burning tactics and flower power of the decade promised liberation and fulfilment, it missed the mark because it essentially went totally overboard with the freedom concept. No one bothered to understand that women wanted it balanced – career yes and a family and a home yes that too.
Continuing the tirade
Advertising at the time, to be thus expected, was anything but politically correct and smacked of gender stereotypes. One camwpaign for Listerine from 1923 had a woman named Edna who said, “her primary ambition in life was to get married” but she had mouth odour that Listerine could fix so that she overcame the campaign slogan: ‘ Always a bridesmaid never the bride’.
In the 70s, a two-page ad taken by the women-led agency of Cadwell Davis in the Ad Age said that the “Lady of the House is Dead”, protesting against ‘moronic, insulting advertising’ that degraded women in general. In contrast, AT& T ads in 1972 showcased their female phone installers proudly up on a telephone pole.
Of course, by 80s, the contrast was remarkable. The famous 80s campaign for Calvin Klein Jeans with Brooke Shields saying, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins?” was a runaway hit and apparently ‘showcased’ modern women and their attitude towards clothes.
In between, women who rose in the ad world based on their creativity, talent and hard work were
Every day, somewhere in the world including here at home, advertisements that insult or belittle women, using them as sex objects, appear. Despite the strides made by women in the world of advertising, it is a bit disappointing to see such ads still continue
legendary. Sri Lanka had its share too. If we had an advertising hall of fame, I am certain Lilamani Benson and Felicia Dean would be in it. Both of them went on to create a name for themselves in the Sri Lankan advertising world, opening the door for many women to follow suit. Today, women work side by side with men in the ad agencies and head agencies as well.
But the tirade continues. Every day, somewhere in the world including here at home, advertisements that insult or belittle women, using them as sex objects, appear. Despite the strides made by women in the world of advertising, it is a bit disappointing to see such ads still continue.
(Nayomini Weerasooriya, a senior journalist, writer and PR professional, can be contacted at nayominiweerasooriya@gmail.com)