We are constantly surrounded by advertisements. Whether it is through social media, TV commercials, the internet, or on billboards we see while driving, we are exposed to many different ideas every day, all day long. Though these ads seem practically harmless, they implement certain beliefs and thoughts into our minds, most of the time without us even realizing it.
Despite the advancements in women’s rights in our society, there still exist many sexist and stereotypical commonplaces, particularly about gender roles. For example, almost every cleaning or baking related advertisement displays a wife who is wearing housewife clothes and a husband who just got back from work and is wearing a fancy suit and tie. These stereotypes can be seen in a 1952 Schlitz beer ad:
What you immediately see when you first look at this advertisement is the “Don’t worry darling, you didn’t burn the beer!” statement. I honestly never thought that eight words could be so offensive. This statement is implying that women are so useless that they cannot even properly do the one thing they are supposed to know how to do, which is to cook for their husbands. Next, notice the difference between the clothing of the husband versus the wife. The husband is dressed elegantly with a brand new looking black suit and tie and looks like he just got back from a very important (and male dominated) job. On the other hand, the wife is wearing a worn-out housewife dress that has a hole in its shirt and also has some wrinkles, which are definitely not present on the husband’s suit. Furthermore, even the face expressions of the characters emphasize the sexist ideas present in this ad. The husband is looking down at his wife with a nonchalant, laughing face. His expression is clearly humiliating and degrading his wife as she is crying and looking at him with an expression full of misery and helplessness. Lastly, it is ironic that the total failure of the wife can be fixed by the existence of the beer. As beer is the ultimate symbol of masculinity, nothing can spoil it, not even a bad wife that cannot do the most basic things she is supposed to know how to do.
But I guess all that does not matter, because after all, she didn’t burn the beer, right?
Before reading your blog, I had never seen this advertisement. It was super interesting to read about your perspective on this ad. It was interesting to see how the company decided to use an offensive ad. I wonder if they were doing so to attract more men to buy their product by making it seem masculine to drink.
I agree with you, what an outrageous sentiment. I know that ideology was more common back then, but to see it now is disgusting. I’m sure most of their clients were men who agreed with this sexist idea, but I hope it was not a successful ad campaign.