From Mind-sticker to Gold-digger: sexist ads from Tab Cola over the years

Lisa over at Sociological Images points to an amazing series of sexist TV ads from Tab Cola over the years.  The final one might slip under your sexism radar until you see it in context and realize its the same message in more covert form!

Comments

[Gerg]

The early ones are pretty shocking today of course, but the more I think about it the more I wonder what exactly about them is so sexist. I mean, they're selling *diet cola*. Why drink diet cola except if you're worried about your body shape and being physically attractiveness? And if you're selling somethin on the basis of it helping the consumer be physically attractive is it sexist to imply that women are primarily interested in being physically attractive to men?

[Jason Schultz]

I totally agree that wanting to be physically attractive to the opposite sex isn't inherently sexist, but these ads contextualize that desire as women's whole function in society. The man is at work doing "important" things while the woman is keeping in shape so she doesn't lose him. Does the man have to worry about being in shape in the ad? Nope. Of course, maybe he has to worry about his job or how much he earns or other things, which are also gendered to put pressure on men in our society, but its very different than the pressure put on women.

Even the 1982 beach ad plays into this notion. The woman sitting next to the man who turns his head must dump water on him to get his attention back to her. Of course, she laughs about it with him afterwards, but it's a very tense moment there for a minute. No matter what her other qualities or accomplishments (she could be president of a company or a race car driver or a Nobel prize winner), what matters in this ad is what her body looks like and keeping her man from leaving her for a different woman with a "better" body.

So, to me, one of the main issues here is the message that is being conveyed to women about what is important in life -- stay thin so he will think about you and not leave you. This is hammered on over and over and over again. And men almost never get that same message.

I mean, when was the last time you saw an advertisement telling men to be thin so they would stick in a woman's mind? Or where a good-looking man walks by and women turn their heads, threatening to leave their man for the hunk in the Speedo? Or where men sell diet cola alongside fast cars, gold watches, and expensive suits?

[sanfranannie]

Well, there was this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzMfW7oSKLQ&feature=related

But I agree, the amount of media pressuring women to be thin & beautiful far outweighs the pressure put on men to do the same. I think this was why I liked this Diet Coke commercial when it came out. Nice to have the tables turned for once.

[Gerg]

Sure, the world is unfair, but I'm not sure that's diet cola's fault. It's not really Coke's responsibility to market its product to a fantasy world where men and women behave identically, especially when the product they sell appeals differently to the two.

I guess after further thought I would say the ads themselves weren't sexist, they're just very very very very dated and reflect a very different society.

[The Pathetic Earthling]

In our lifetime, there used to be a restaurant in Lafayette called "Uncle Sambos", Jas. The world can -- and indeed has -- grown the hell up.