The "tiny" world of the 1961 housewife

This 1961 Boston Globe ad by BBDO stars a certain Pat White as the saddest housewife I have ever seen in an ad:



The weird part of it is that she's supposed to be fulfilled by this isolated existence, but when she says "I wouldn't change a single peanut butter and jelly sandwich of it" you expect her to head for the medicine cabinet for some phenobarbital.

Instead, she pours a cup of tea and opens the Globe, to be reminded that there is a great big world out there. One she can only read about, briefly, before returning to the soul-deadening housework.

Sure, times have changed. But not for everyone. Jezebel just ran a post today about some place called "Fix The Family" that thinks women should not go to college/university because "If we look COMPREHENSIVELY at the Catholic doctrine, we’ll see very little that promotes a woman working outside the home" (ALLCAPS not mine)

You've come a long way, maybe?

Tip via AdAge

"Traditions are what you make them," says wedding ring ad with two brides

The latest ad to take advantage of progressing American attitudes towards equal marriage comes from Long's in Boston. Nicely done!

Via Adrants

On second thought, perhaps this "tap booty" ad conveys the wrong message...

Boston Magazine reports that the above ad, which appeared on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority vehicles, has been voluntarily removed by the advertiser.

Hollaback! Boston, the local chapter of an international anti-street-harassement organization, had complained to MBTA about the ad's appropriateness, especially in public spaces where sexual assault and street harassment happen frequently.

“We get stories constantly about groping incidents on trains,” said Britni de la Cretaz, co-site director of HollaBack! Boston. “The cartoonist made it super sexualized, and the reason I felt that was inappropriate is because a lot of people riding the trains have their butts touched without consent all the time.”

Ironically, Ms. de la Cretaz points out, the "Tapbooty" ads were appearing at the same time as MBTA was running its own anti-harassment campaign:

“I know in general [the T tries] to be good about talking about harassment and how it is not OK," she added. "Maybe they just didn’t even realize that’s what [the advertisement] looked like.”

Interestingly, both Tapbooty and Hollaback are in the apps business — Tapbooty as a "social games for fun & rewards" one, and Hollaback! with a tool to report, analyze and protect oneself from street harassment incidents.

This ad will restore your faith in advertising, sports and humanity

Copyranter shared this on Buzzfeed. The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins to take the Stanley Cup in game 6 of the finals on Monday. While they held a massive victory parade in Chicago, they also committed the time and money to pay tribute to the spirit of Boston after the awful marathon bombing this spring. This was a full-page ad in Friday's Boston Globe.

Hats off to you, Chicago.

When you do ads that make fun of ads, try not to make fun of mental illness

Via AdFreak

There's nothing advertising creatives love better than to go meta, and make fun of ad cliches for unrelated products, organizations or causes.

That was, presumably, this thinking behind the McDonald's ad (above) which apparently ran on Boston transit properties.

According to AdFreak, Arnold, Boston, created the ad. They were sent this stament from McDonald's

"Arnold apologizes for its mistake to McDonald's and to anyone who was offended by the ad. McDonald's did not approve the ad, and its release was our unintended error. We've addressed the issue and have improved our approval process to ensure this does not happen in the future."

Here are the other two ads, mocking adult education and business ad clichés:

Via Facebook

Via Facebook

I'd really love to know what kind of "unintended error" resulted in these ads being published and posted, without client approval, in a public place. Not to mention the fact that they followed the art direction of crappy ads so closely that they make the McDonald's brand look sloppy and amateurish.

After the JWT India/Ford scandal I am beginning to seriously wonder what absurd amount of "going rogue" with a brand it actually takes for an agency to get fired.

Don't let your daughters grow up to date our clients #FdAdFriday

Via Adrants

Established Men "is the premier online dating service that connects Young, Beautiful Women with Rich, Successful Men!"

But what exactly are they trying to say here?

Steve Hall ponders, "Is Established Men telling established men they better get their daughters to study so they can get a well-paying job and not end up on the very site daddy trolls for dates when he's feeling frisky? Or is it telling fathers they better make sure their daughters are well educated and ambitious so they *can* end up on a site like Established Men (instead of some other crappy dating site) where, seemingly, all the men are hot and she won't have to be seen with a fatty like the guy on the billboard?"

It is truly baffling. Perhaps it's the sugar daddy site's attempt at corporate social responsibility, like when tobacco companies sponsor youth anti-smoking ads?

Nah. It's just effed.