To be completely honest, my main target for this assignment was to find a magazine that had a Coca-Cola ad in it because Coca-Cola has been around for years and is famous for their adds. I did not have a lot of time to look through the magazines at the library, except for my 20 minute break in between classes one day. Because I went home this weekend, I did not find a Coca-Cola ad; therefore, I decided to search online for one so that I could analyze it closely. I did however get a chance to see a new part of the library that I did not know existed. In Google images I typed, “Coca-Cola ads from the 1950’s.” An image came up that caught my eye immediately. Interestingly enough, a woman was on the ad, sitting in the chair with one hand behind her head as if she is laying on it, sucking back on the Coca-Cola in a glass bottle. The woman is wearing a yellow dress and over that yellow dress is a blue and white checkered apron. Immediately this brought the name “house wife” to mind. It wasn’t until after I had been looking at the image for a while that I noticed a vacuum in the corner of the picture, resting up against the chair that the woman was sitting in. This ad tells me that any woman can relax and get away from her housework just by having a Coke. The slogan said “The pause that refreshes …at home.” I think that this is a very interesting ad because it gives the stereotype that women are “house wives” which was for the most part true in the 1950s. If you compare that ad to today however, it would not make complete sense since it is extremely common for a woman to have a job. It is even more common today, than back in the 1950s, for men to stay home and do things around the house. Maybe there will be an ad in the future for Coca-Cola of a man portrayed as a “stay at home husband.” How would our society react to that?
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I noticed the same thing. I idea of house wives selling products was really common back then apparently. I found ads from 1953 and many used the same strategy over and over again. It didn't really matter what they were selling. They all gave the same message that women should be in the home cooking and using the best available products.
I also chose to examine a coke ad and i think its interesting these older coke ads definitely try to illustrate a wholesome appearance. As you talked about the lady having a dress on with an apron over it. It's obviously a very classic image. They really try to implement the coke is refreshing so it will automatically bring a relaxing time. That message was also implemented in the coke ad I chose to examine as well. Good observation about appealing to housewives, I didn't really think about that until you mentioned it.
i just did some research to write a paper about this ad as well, and i found out that it originally came out in 1939. it's not 50's at all~ interesting. just wanted to share.
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