The past and the future can be presented as either threatening or appealing. The past can be “traditional” (good) or “old-fashioned” (bad but kinda nice) or “backwards” (definitely bad). And the future can be “progressive” (good) or “radical” (maybe good but certainly scary, often very bad) or threatening (“new-fangled” or “going to hell in a handbasket”).
In the this tampon ads from the 1940s, being “too old to follow the modern ideas” is framed as an unfortunate state that women should overcome. Not trying the new product is “holding [yourself] back.”
Similarly, in this ad, a daughter instructs her mother on advances in managing “intimate problem[s]”:
The ads reveal how ideas related to change (this time the promise of modernity) can be mobilized strategically (this time for marketing purposes). Here is another great example related to gay marriage.
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Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Comments 6
Reanimated Horse — August 11, 2009
What is it that makes me so uncomfortable about all the "perfected by a doctor" talk?
Tintin LaChance — August 11, 2009
You've reminded me of one of Saturday Night Live's commercial parodies. The "Kotex Classic" is sort of the inverse of these print ads, on the same topic: http://hollyhockfarms.multiply.com/video/item/18/Kotex_Classic
thewhatifgirl — August 12, 2009
I've got to say, tampons do not absorb all odors. And there is nothing wrong with that, either.
Timm! — August 13, 2009
My favorite part is the bit in the order form at the bottom requesting that a trial pack be sent "in plain wrapper."
Euphemisms in Tampon Ads: The U by Kotex Campaign » Sociological Images — March 22, 2010
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