Dogs, cats, kids and babies, not necessarily in that order, have long been favorite subjects for advertisers....a universal appeal. Who doesn't know the current TV pup's tune....'there may be bugs on some of you mugs, but there ain't any bugs on me!' And most of us are old enough to remember the haughty and effete 'Morris' the cat!
Scrolling back, once again, to the early 1950's and the PG&E consumer B&W ads....BBD&O and I often portrayed kids and dogs to help extol the joys of new washers, driers, refrigerators, and the use of inexpensive energy. So different from today's 'green' emphasis on conservation of power and the pocketbook!
I think the CAWS will do another on this PG&E series next week....then we'll move on to other things.
*Ted Key's 'Hazel' cartoon was a weekly feature in the Saturday Evening Post back in the old days...always found near the back of the issue. 'Hazel' never failed to have a pithy comment....just nailing the mark with her employer 'family'. At that time we had a lovely Japanese lady that helped clean and iron two or three times a month. We called her our Japanese 'Hazel'. A few examples: On her arrival she announced, 'I'll do anything, but I won't baby-sit!' Another, to my wife....'Whose dress are you wearing? It's too small for you!'
When I was considering...and test-driving on the dealer lot....a Honda 55cc motorcycle, she said, 'Mr. Allen doesn't need a motorcycle. What he needs is a ten-speed bike!' Her name was Helen......close enough!
1 comment:
Had a good laugh looking at the cartoon and reading about those comments by the Japanese lady!
Let me comment a little on this first washer ad: What a nice contrast! The comfy inside (one can almost smell the perfume of that washed linen); and the uncomfortable outside with the unpleasant weather. The dog won't mind, he's keen to get out, but the boy seems quite undecided, pondering. It's just a whole story here.
Another observation - a tiny detail in the picture with the Christmas-gift-washing-machine:
There's the dog there wagging: The tail's movement gets a little emphasis by those "speed lines". This wagging movement finds kind of a further extension and subtle amplification by the reflection on the black circle of that glass port.
I just wonder: Is that a chance happening or was it intended?
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