Category:
Advertising

A Woman’s Perspiration

Anatomical horror from the advertising industry:

You are a woman under your arms. Newly awakened glands there give off a woman's perspiration. The kind that offends.

This new kind of perspiration breaks out when you're taking an exam. When you're going to a party. When you're dating him.


American Girl - July 1963



American Girl - Sep 1964

Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 25, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Advertising, 1960s, Women, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

Three Strange Florida Oranges Commercials

Sportswriter is composing his column in locker room, communicates directly with distant housewife.



Advertising icon is implicitly happy with having her head sliced open and its juice extracted.



Were Western Union workers really given OJ breaks?

Posted By: Paul - Thu Aug 22, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Advertising, Soda, Pop, Soft Drinks and other Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 1950s, 1960s

Follies of the Madmen #603

Don't bees have intimate relations with (swimsuit women) flowers?

Posted By: Paul - Tue Aug 20, 2024 - Comments (3)
Category: Fashion, Insects and Spiders, Swimming, Snorkeling, and Diving, Advertising, 1950s

Follies of the Madmen #602

Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 09, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Domestic, Hygiene, Advertising, Historical Figure, 1960s

Kleenex - the cold cream remover

Kleenex tissues were introduced in the 1920s, but at first it didn't occur to the Kleenex marketing team that the product could be used for nose blowing. Instead, they marketed Kleenex as a cold cream remover.

More from wikipedia:

In the 1920s, the product was modified into the menstrual pad Kotex. A further modification of the original crepe paper made it thinner and softer, and the resultant 1924 product was called "Kleenex" and marketed as a cold cream remover...

A few years after the introduction of Kleenex, the Cellucotton's head researcher tried to persuade the head of advertising to try to market the tissue for colds and hay fever. The administrator declined the idea but then committed a small amount of ad space to mention of using Kleenex tissue as a handkerchief. By the 1930s, Kleenex was being marketed with the slogan "Don't Carry a Cold in Your Pocket" and its use as a disposable handkerchief replacement became predominant.

Chicago Tribune - Nov 10, 1924

Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 08, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Business, Advertising, 1920s

French vs. American vacuum desire

Different takes on vacuum desire from the 1950s. The French ad is more blatant, but the American ad has pink octopus arms extending from the vacuum and promises that "Only $69.95 fulfills your longing."

1958 French ad for the Samy vacuum cleaner
source: periodpaper.com


Ce que toute Femme désire
Aspirateur de conception révolutionnaire tout plastique alliant la légèreté et la robustesse … A la portée de tous par son prix le SAMY est vraiment l’aspirateur de DEMAIN!

Translation:
What every woman desires
A revolutionary all-plastic vacuum cleaner combining lightness and robustness... Within everyone's reach due to its price, the SAMY is truly the vacuum cleaner of TOMORROW!


Life - Feb 9, 1953



via The Vacuum Cleaner by Maud Ellmann

Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 02, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Advertising, Appliances, 1950s, Europe

Are you a Danger-Mother?

Danger Mother would be a good name for a band, if there wasn't already a band named Wolfmother.

Life - Mar 29, 1948

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 25, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Advertising, Parents, 1940s

English Chemist’s Secret Formulation

Transform from a "fat & lonely" cartoon into a "slim & desirable" photograph in 3 days.

It's got my vote for the best before-and-after figures of any weight-loss ad.

Daily Mirror - Mar 25, 1972

Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 19, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Advertising, 1970s, Dieting and Weight Loss

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Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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