Procter and Gamble
launched Tide in 1946 and
quickly became a brand
leader in America
DMB&B (The D'Arcy Masius Benton and
Bowles) handles Procter and Gambles
accounts throughout the 1950s
DMB&B used print and radio advertising
campaigns in order to build audience
familiarity with the brand
Both media forms used the "housewife"
character and the ideology that its
customers loved and adored Tide
Media language
Historic context
The post-WW2 consumer boom of the
1950s included the rapid development of
new technologies for the home
Vacuum cleaners, fridge freezers,
microwave ovens and washing
machines all became desirable
products in the 1950s
Cultural context
Print adverts from the 1950s
conventionally used more copy
than we're used to seeing today
Theorists
Roland Barthes
- semiotics
The use of hearts above the main
image and the woman's gesture
codes have connotations of love
and relationship
Hyperbole and superlatives, "miracle",
"worlds cleanest wash", "worlds whitest
wash" are used to oppose the connoted
superior cleaning power of Tide to its
competitors
Claude-Levi Strauss -
Structuralism
"Tide gets clothes cleaner than any
other washday product you can buy!"
reinforces the binary opposition
between Tide and its commercial rivals
Stuart Hall -
representations theory
The images of the two women
hanging the laundry represents
audiences lives and lifestyles at
the time
David Gauntlett -
Theories of identity
Women represented in the in
the advert act as role models of
domestic perfection that the
audience may want to compare
themselves against
Representation
The dress code of the
adverts main female
characters include a
stereotypical 1950s
hairstyle
The fashion for women
having shorter hair had a
practical catalyst as long hair
was dangerous for women
working with machinery on
farms
The headband or scarf worn
by the woman also links to the
practicality of the dress code
for women
Having her hair held back
connotes she's focused on her
work, though this is perhaps
binary opposed to the full
make-up she is wearing