With International Women’s Day behind us, it feels fitting to take a puff of nostalgia and look back at the smoky swagger of the 1960s — an era when Madison Avenue men sold everything from lipstick to lawnmowers with equal parts confidence and condescension.
Back then, the “modern woman” apparently knew her place: in the kitchen, at the foot of her husband, or gleaming in pearls while perfecting the Sunday roast. And when she wasn’t dreaming of a new Hoover under the Christmas tree, she was showing off the power of her other assets — the ones that didn’t come with a plug.
Thankfully, times have changed. These days, the notion of a woman existing solely to keep her man’s slippers warm feels as archaic as smoking a cigar in a maternity ward — something that, believe it or not, once seemed perfectly normal.
We can now watch Mad Men with a knowing smirk, as Don Draper polishes his Old Fashioned, lights his Lucky Strike, and mansplains his way through life. But even Don’s polished misogyny looks tame next to some of the real-life cigar adverts of the time.
Take the RG Dun line from the DWG Cigar Corporation. This brand responded to the Women’s Liberation Movement not with tact, but with a cloud of unapologetic chauvinism thick enough to set off a smoke alarm. These radio spots were so gloriously ridiculous that they almost belong in the British Museum’s “What Were They Thinking?” exhibit.
Yet, strangely, they remind us of advertising’s golden rule: when society is changing, creativity gets interesting. From the “good wife” with a Hoover to the independent woman with a humidor, the journey’s been quite something.
And let’s face it — here in the UK, where a fine cigar and a sharp sense of irony still go hand in hand, we can afford to look back with a chuckle rather than a cough. So pour yourself a whisky, light up your favourite H. Upmann Magnum 46 or Partagás Serie D No.4, and raise a toast to the days when Madison Avenue thought they were running the world.
They may not make ads like that anymore — and thank heavens for that.
You must be logged in to post a comment.