Beyond Belief – Jaw-Dropping ‘Golden Age of Madison Avenue’ Advertisements

Using babies to sell cigarettes was surprisingly common in the 1950s. Malboro ran an entire campaign using ‘talking babies’, aiming to sell smoking as a suitable family-friendly activity. (Malboro 1953)

Offensive, misleading, racist, sexist and dishonest, countless adverts created in the so-called ‘Golden Age of Madison Avenue’ are inconceivable to modern eyes. With no industry body to regulate them the much-revered ‘Ad Men’ were free to go to any lengths to sell their clients’ products – and did so. From using babies to peddle cigarettes to telling women that their husbands would leave them if they didn’t but certain items, nothing was off limits. Founder of global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, Charles Saatchi has gathered more than 100 of the most shocking campaigns in his latest book Beyond Belief, showing some jaw-dropping examples of non-PC salesmanship.  – Yahoo News.

Please click the photos for larger images:

Racism was rife in early 20th century advertising. This advert demonstrated the effectiveness of white paint by having a black child use it to paint his friend’s skin. (Elliots)

Using babies to sell cigarettes was surprisingly common in the 1950s. Malboro ran an entire campaign using ‘talking babies’, aiming to sell smoking as a suitable family-friendly activity. (Malboro 1953)

Using babies to sell cigarettes was surprisingly common in the 1950s. Malboro ran an entire campaign using ‘talking babies’, aiming to sell smoking as a suitable family-friendly activity. (Malboro 1953)

A ban on the direct advertising and marketing of cigarettes came into force in 2003 in the UK. Not so back in 1930, when doctors were used to sell them and there was no obligation to inform people about the health risks. (Lucky Strike 1930)

Alcohol and driving make poor companions, but that didn’t seem to bother the makers of this advert for a beer dispenser in your car, which it describes as ‘invaluable in traffic jams’. (Bock Auto Bar Company)

This unashamedly offensive advert for Alco HyTop lids boasts that even women with their ‘dainty grasp’ could open this bottle cap. (Alco Aluminum 1953)

Gay Right Group Call For Boycott On Barilla

Where there’s Barilla, there’s home

Aurelio Mancuso, head of gay rights group Equality Italia called for a boycott of Barilla’s pastas, sauces and snacks.

He made the call after Guido Barilla, chairman of the world’s leading pasta manufacturer, told Italian Radio 24 on Wednesday that his company would never use a gay family in its advertising.

“I would never do (a commercial) with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect but because we don’t agree with them. Ours is a classic family where the woman plays a fundamental role.”

Barilla for many years has used the image of a happy family living in an idealized version of the Italian countryside, with the slogan, “Where there’s Barilla, there’s home.”

I support Barilla for supporting the classic family and not promoting gay family in his advertisement because homosexual family is against my religion.

It is funny when Mancuso called for the boycott as Barilla does not say anything against gay, what he said was that he does not want a gay family in his advertisements.

It is wrong and unfair for some people to force other people to accept homosexual family as normal because homosexual family is not accepted by lots of religions.

It seems that Mancuso cannot not respect Barilla’s freedom of speech and opinion.