Tide 1950s advert

In the 1950s America had it's consumer boom, a time in which companies began to utilise the power of advertising to sell their new products to a post war America. After world war 2, America was in a financial boom with many families using their wealth to invest in new household products and appliances.

In order to rise above the competition, companies had to use advertising to succeed. Having seen the success of propaganda posters used in the war, companies employed propaganda artists to employ their skills and stylings on advertisements for products such as Tide laundry detergent. The similarities between these 1950s and 60s adverts and wartime propaganda posters are striking. Both use similar handwritten fonts and art style.

Not only did the adverts take inspiration from the style of propaganda posters but also took inspiration from the techniques used by propaganda. The idea of repetition is key to the advert. It does this by repeating it's points about the effectiveness of tide multiple times in the advert. Gerbner's cultivation theory suggest that through repetition the messages contained within the advert become accepted by the audience. This links in with the rule of seven that suggests that a consumer must see or hear of a product at least 7 times before they will buy it.

However the tide advert isn't just selling the product. It's repetition also has the effect of perpetuating the stereotype of the housewife. The woman seen on the page is representative of the typical housewife. She is designed to be a desirable image for woman and to be an aspirational figure. Phrases such as "Tide's got what women want" and "no wonder you women buy more tide than any other washday product" perpetuate the idea that it is the role of women to commit to household chores.

A modern day audience is likely to have an oppositional reading of this advert due to how public perception of women's role in society has changed to be more liberal and equal in recent years. However at the time many people would have had a preferred reading. They would have likely seen this advert as genuine and appealing to women.