Coffee with a Splash of Misogyny (Blogpost 5)

I will be analyzing a 1960’s Folger’s Coffee ad, which can be seen below (it is the first of the two ads in the video). This ad is very representative of advertising in the 50’s and 60’s, shifting the focus away from the product itself and towards the consumer. It is ripe with influence and devices that lend themselves to a semiotic analysis.

Folger’s Coffee – Misogyny and Bad Brews

This advertisement is not simply urging consumers to buy Folger’s. It shows a story by giving a glimpse into the daily life of an average American household. It shows the horrors of what could happen if you don’t buy Instant Folger’s. It tells the narrative that the best way to keep your husband happy and marriage intact is to give him what he wants, good coffee. And the only way to do that is with Instant Folger’s. It does so by exaggerating the importance of a good cup of coffee. When asked what he wanted for his birthday, the husband responded with “just a decent cup of coffee.” This is not a typical birthday request but is somewhat of a metaphor present throughout. When talking with her friend after her husband leaves for work, the main character says she will use Instant Folger’s to surprise him later that night.
This narrative is accomplished by playing on the gender roles of the time. In the United States, it was not until the 1970’s that women really left the house and began working. At the time of this ad, men worked and provided for their families, while women were expected to stay home and keep the house in order and their husbands happy. The wife in this ad is unable to live up to this expectation as she cannot even brew her husband a decent cup of coffee. The gender roles are further exemplified by the wife’s lack of a name. The husband is called Harvey on multiple occasions, while the wife is only referred to as “honey.” This effectively gives the wife even less agency.

As if being unable to satisfy her husband’s coffee needs was not enough, the ad goes even further to add to this woman’s troubles. It does so when her husband tells her that even “the girls down at the office” can make a better cup of coffee than her, and on a hotplate nonetheless. This is a form of non-representation. These girls are mentioned but never shown. They represent an invisible and mysterious threat to all housewives of the time. All of this is done to belabor the point that women should be buying Folger’s Coffee in order to keep their husbands happy.

Positioning is another tool used to create an effective advertisement. The gaze in this ad tells us that we are not supposed to engage with the subjects. This accomplished with both the level of interaction, as well as the distance of the scene. We view the scene unfold from roughly eye-level and only a few feet away from the subjects. It is as if we are present in the room with them but they do not know it, and we are unable to speak. These very deliberate choices really make the viewer feel what is going on, from the disappointment in the beginning to the intimacy at the end. For any housewife at the time who viewed this ad, it would likely compel them to reconsider what brand of coffee to buy.

While speaking of distance, it is also worth analyzing the distance between the two subjects of the ad. To start, the husband and wife are seated further apart as he is served his “undrinkable” coffee. This creates a more hostile environment, and as the wife later notes, Harvey does not even kiss her goodbye before he leaves. However, once she switches to Instant Folger’s and her coffee has improved, this all changes. The distance between the two has decreased, they are seated much closer together. The ad even ends with a very suggestive exchange as Harvey blows out a candle, pulls his wife closer and kisses her on the cheek, illustrating the exaggerated effects of what a good cup of coffee can do.

This ad reminded me a lot of a 1950’s Ford commercial, which can be seen below. The ad aims to show housewives how much more freedom they can have if their husbands purchase the new and affordable Ford. While there are plenty of differences, both ads utilize the gender norms of the time to target the same audience and show them how much better their lives can be with the product in question. Both are prime examples of the shift towards consumers’ needs and emotions and away from the specifics of the products themselves.

 

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