Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - The Happy Homemaker: How Advertising Invented The Housewife - Part 2

Episode Date: July 22, 2023

This week, Part 2 of how Madison Avenue invented… the housewife. Over 100 years ago, the advertising industry realized they had thousands of household products to sell. All they needed was a customer. So they invented the Happy Homemaker, and for the next 25 years, encouraged women to be stay-at-home moms. That strategy created the biggest business in the world: Housekeeping.The rest is advertising history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please, do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling.

Subscribe now, and don't miss a single beat. Due to popular demand, we've dug very, very deep into our archives and are pleased to announce the re-release of episodes from the last season of The Age of Persuasion. And we've remastered them to fit our Under the Influence format. And by the way, this particular two-part episode won the Grand Award as the best radio program worldwide at the 2011 New York Radio Festivals. This is an apostrophe podcast production. You're so king in it. You're a good influence with terry o'reilly

they were so honest so thoroughly square eternally noble historically fair The song you're listening to is from the musical My Fair Lady. It's titled A Hymn to Him. It was sung by Rex Harrison, who married six times. The lyrics were written by Alan J. Lerner, who married eight times. The two of them had been complaining about the difficulties of their various marriages and divorces and how much easier life would be if women were more like men. So Lerner took that conversation and created this song for Harrison's character, Henry Higgins,

to sing in Act II of My Fair Lady. It was supposed to be a song about Higgins' feeling of superiority over women, but when you listen to the lyrics, it really suggests how very little he understands them. Understanding women has been a 100-year preoccupation for the advertising business. And since the vast majority of advertising agency creative directors are men, and the vast majority of shoppers who buy household goods are women,

it's been an interesting journey. Why can't a woman be like me? In part two today, we're about to see the invention of the happy homemaker run smack into the feminist movement. And that spectacular collision creates the next beat in this fascinating story. And through it all, one thing remains certain. Advertising was still after the fair ladies. You're under the influence. The late 1950s marked the beginning of a big change in the way the world saw women.

Sex crept into advertising, thanks in large part to the Kinsey Sexual Behavior in the Human Female report, which revealed housewives were more sexual than traditional views suggested. Three of the most influential campaigns of the 1950s capitalized on those findings. First, there was Maidenform, which dared show women attired only in girdles and featured a sexy playfulness that would move

the line in the sand when it came to being scantily clad in advertising. Next, Revlon ran a suggestive campaign titled Fire and Ice. One of the infamous Fire and Ice ads showed a dramatic shot of a sexy model with bright red lips and nails wearing a silver sequined dress. Beside the photo, Revlon ran a 15-question quiz asking Are you made for fire and ice? It described a new American woman as a mix of tease and temptress siren and waif, dynamic and demure

The quiz asked questions like Have you ever danced with your shoes off? Do you close your eyes when kissed? Have you ever wanted to wear an ankle bracelet? And maybe the oddest question of all. If you answered yes to at least eight of the 15 questions, you were a fire-and-ice girl. It was enough to make June cleaver gasp. The third most influential campaign of the late 50s was for Clairol. As we've mentioned before,

up until that time, most women didn't color their hair, thinking it was just for movie stars and sex workers. But this groundbreaking campaign completely changed that perception by asking the very provocative question, does she or doesn't she? Does she or doesn't she? Does she or doesn't she?

In the softest candlelight or brightest party lights, hair color by Miss Clairol looks so natural, only her hairdresser knows for sure. Does she or doesn't she meant the hair coloring was so natural, you couldn't tell if it was real or not. But framed within the context of the Kinsey report, it was a line loaded with implication. As a result of that campaign, hair coloring soared among North American women,

and to this day, over 60% of women color their hair. It's interesting to note that all three of these landmark campaigns were written by women for women. Made in Form was written by Mary Phileas, Revlon by Kay Daly, and Clairol by Shirley Polycoff. Each was a bold statement that made women feel that hair color, lingerie, and fragrance were essential elements of feeling confident as a woman.

Interesting to note that while Shirley Polycoff enjoyed huge success with her Clairol campaign, she insisted her advertising agency cap her salary at $25,000 a year. Even though Polykov was writing advertising that gave women permission to take charge of their own lives, she didn't want to be seen earning more than her lawyer husband. When he eventually died, Polykov's agency immediately doubled her salary twice and promoted her. Telling for the times.

But change was afoot. By 1956, over 20 million women were in the workforce. They purchased 80% of all household goods, over 60% of all hardware, did 90% of all remodeling, and held 65% of all savings accounts. Women also influenced over 60% of all savings accounts. Women also influenced over 60 percent of all automobile purchases. Automobile offers a lot of things that would be particularly appealing to a woman. Things that make driving a lot easier and things that make it a lot more comfortable. By the early 1960s, car makers began to design cars with upholstery that stayed clean longer and made feminine additions

like increasing luggage space, lowering steering wheels, and adjusting door buttons and armrests. As the conservatism of the 1950s swirled into the permissiveness of the 1960s, advertising would carefully recalibrate its imagery, depicting happy homemakers as more glamorous, but still in need of a man.

This flat tire needs a man. But when there's no man around, good year should be. If you look at the imagery in the TV series Mad Men, for example, you'll see Betty Draper's June Cleaver look transforming to sexier dresses and bare midriffs. But she is still tied to the home, where her world revolves around her husband and children. This sentiment is reflected so accurately in 1960s commercials. As ad historian Julianne Sivulka writes,

advertising still depicted men as the rescuer of damsels in distress. So if your sink had stains, the Ajax White Knight galloped over to help. If you had a plugged drain, it was time for janitor in a drum. If you wanted soft toilet paper, you talked to Mr. Whipple. And if it was time to Janitor in a Drum. If you wanted soft toilet paper, you'd talk to Mr. Whipple. And if it was time to mop and scrub...

Mr. Clean gets rid of dirt and grime and grease in just a minute. Mr. Clean will clean your whole house and everything that's in it. This concept of men as rescuers explains why so many advertisers chose male voices to talk to women in their ads. Mr. Clean does more cleaning, faster and easier, than any other type of cleaner, cleanser, soap or detergent you ever used. Using male announcers is still the default choice with most advertisers. In the hundreds of commercials I directed every year,

I was rarely asked to find female voiceovers. Mention sex, and the single girl is cool and shy. She objects to discussing sex with any guy. In 1962, Helen Gurley Brown, the highest-paid female ad writer on the West Coast, left advertising to write a book titled Sex and the Single Girl. It was originally called Sex for the Single Girl,

but that was deemed too racy for 1962, so the title was toned down. It was an advice book that encouraged women to become financially independent and experience sexual relationships before and without marriage. Helen Gurley Brown even wrote a chapter on contraceptive methods, but the publisher removed it from the final manuscript at the last minute. She would go on to found Cosmo magazine in 1965,

and her book would inspire Sex and the City 35 years later. But in 1962, her book turned all preconceived notions of the single girl upside down, and all women took notice. And suddenly she's not single anymore. One year later, another groundbreaking book was released that condemned Helen Gurley Brown's notions. It would also call Madison Avenue out on the carpet for having created The Happy Homemaker.

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan is considered one of the most influential non-fiction books of the 20th century. In 1957, she was asked to survey her fellow Smith College graduates for a 15th annual reunion. Instead of finding happy stories, Friedan discovered that a majority of them were deeply unhappy with their lives as homemakers. Friedan wrote an article on her worrisome findings, but no magazine would publish

it. Which wasn't surprising, considering so many magazines depended on advertising aimed at housewives. So, she decided to write a book. The feminine mystique, as Friedan stated, was the problem with no name. She defined it as the widespread emptiness women felt as stay-at-home housewives. Despite having a beautiful house with a white picket fence, a station wagon and 2.5 children, a malaise afflicted women who felt they had given up careers to conform to society's expectations of running the home. Even though both books by Friedan

and Helen Gurley Brown encouraged women to attain financial independence. Friedan condemned sex and the single girl for encouraging women to seek empowerment through sex and shopping, which she saw as shallow definitions of happiness. But Friedan also pointed a bigger finger at Madison Avenue as the perpetrator, encouraging women to think of housework as a profession, a profession that required

professional products, discouraging them from having careers and personal goals outside the home because that would cut into advertisers' profits. Put that rack up

all by yourself. I sure did. And scrub the floors. Ha ha! All finished? Then you deserve to have it soft with Soft Teak Beauty Bath Oil. Most leading bath oils just float on the water, but Soft Teak swirls through the water,

swirls relaxing softness evenly over your skin. Honey? I'm taking a bath in Soft Teak. Boy, these women have a soft life. There you go. Widely praised and criticized, the feminine mystique kicked open the door for what would become the feminist movement of the 1970s. The backlash against the suppression Friedan outline started almost immediately.

And while Madison Avenue initially tried to resist, there was no stopping this new wave of feminism. It was fueled, in large part, by government approval of the pill in 1961. When women were finally able to control their biology, the sexual revolution went into high gear.

Female roles began to change and women demanded the imagery in media be more accurate and reflect a new reality. From the mid-60s to the end of the decade, more and more barriers were broken. For starters,

over 51% of women now had jobs outside the home. One of the first advertisers to acknowledge this new woman was Virginia Slim Cigarettes, who launched a long-running campaign with the tagline, You've come a long way, baby. You've come a long way, baby, to get where you got to today.

Virginia Slim's. This is the taste for today's woman. But it was the advertising and media in the next decade that saw the biggest change. One of the highest rated TV shows that ushered in the 70s was the Mary Tyler Moore Show. This world is awfully big Girl, this time you're all alone Debuting on September 19, 1970, it showed the world a new leading character. Her name was Mary Richards. She was a single woman who juggled a career and a personal life.

Love is all around, no need to waste it career and a personal life. It was a long walk from her Laura Petri character on The Dick Van Dyke Show. She wasn't a stay-at-home mom, she didn't cater to a husband, she didn't have kids, and she wasn't chained to the kitchen. She was a new, liberated woman struggling to make it on her

own. The series would go on to win numerous awards, including 29 Emmys and a Peabody Award for, quote, a sympathetic portrayal of a career woman in today's changing society. With the Equal Rights Amendment passing the House and Senate in 1972 and Roe v. Wade the following year, nobody could deny the full weight of feminism was rolling through the 70s. It was even reflected in the final lyric of the Mary Tyler Moore theme song,

which was soon updated from You Might Just Make It After All to You're gonna Make It After All In 1972, Helen Gurley Brown's Cosmo magazine revealed the first nude male centerfold featuring a smiling and very furry Burt Reynolds.

Gloria Steinem launched Ms. Magazine that same year and chose a very telling image for the inaugural issue. That image was Wonder Woman. If you look closely at Wonder Woman's face on that cover, you can see slight signs of stress, which would foreshadow what was to come. Advertising, while slow off the mark, joined the new direction of the parade

and commercials started to tentatively reflect the liberated woman. One of the most famous campaigns at that time was the much-talked-about commercials for a fragrance called Charlie. There's a fragrance that's here today and they call it Charlie. The feminine perfume with the male name showed a successful career woman turning heads with her beauty and her briefcase. Kind of young, kind of now, Charlie. Kind of free, kind of wow, Charlie.

As women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers, they suddenly weren't just spending household money, they were earning it. It wasn't an easy transition for women, as it entailed juggling marriage, motherhood, and a career. So, when the happy homemaker collided with feminism, a new archetype was born. It was an image Madison Avenue quickly co-opted. The Supermom. This wonder woman held a job outside the house,

but she still shouldered the full burden of homemaking. She was the ultimate multitasker. I can put the wash on the mic, feed the kids, get dressed, pass out the kisses, and get to work by five and nine. Cause I'm a woman, Auxilie. Give her, Auxilie, the eight-hour perfume for that 24-hour woman. I can bring home the bacon, Auxilie, fry it up in a pan, A. I should. And never, never, never let you forget your romance. The supermom seemed, at first glance, to be the perfect solution.

She had a husband, cooked the kids wholesome meals, kept the house clean, made sure the laundry was done, did the shopping, went to PTA meetings, and still climbed the corporate ladder.

The term supermom gave voice to the ambitions of millions of women who wanted to find fulfillment outside the home while not abandoning motherhood. It suggested empowerment, that women could have it all. Madison Avenue fully embraced the Supermom because it allowed advertisers to celebrate working mothers while still safely securing their biggest market of all, the lady of the house. On television, the Supermom reigned supreme. The highest rated program of the 80s, for example, was The Cosby Show, with wife Claire Huxtable making partner at her law firm while still looking after her successful husband, the house, and five kids.

The 90s tweaked the dual image of confident woman and mother even further. One coke ad actually created an animated Supermom superhero. In this commercial, Supermom is preparing dinner for her kids when she gets a phone call telling her she has to stop a giant meteor from hitting Earth. A meteor? How close? I'm on my way. We see her in her Supermom outfit

and watch as she flies into outer space to fend off the meteor threat, then is surrounded by reporters when she lands back on Earth. Supermom! Supermom! I forgot the kids' Coca-Cola. Excuse me. Supermom then flies back into her kitchen, where she changes into her normal clothes and hands the kids a Coke just in time. Thanks, Mom.

You're super. As the 21st century arrived, the competing goals of feminism and motherhood continued to converge. But the supermom image had a flip side. It began to make women feel inadequate and exhausted. It suggested that fulfillment was only attainable through hyper-achievement. The supermom had become the dominant image of advertising. Where it was June Cleaver 50 years before, it became the minivan-driving, house-running, working, multitasking woman. An AOL survey of 7,000 mothers around the world found

that the average mom conducted a combined 27 hours of activities into a single day. The supermom syndrome was only increasing. In a commercial for Electrolux, celebrity Kelly Ripa went into her supermom mode. Laundry day! A ton of laundry isn't a ton of work with my Electrolux perfect steam washer and dryer. We see Ripa running around handling all her household chores. With the largest capacity perfect steam washer and dryer. We see Ripa running around handling all her household chores. With the largest capacity, perfect steam washer and dryer,

you can wash and dry more than 50 outfits in one load. So you can be even more amazing. Date night. Better yet, he can be even more amazing alone at last. Electrolux, be even more amazing.

You can be even more amazing has been the message that Madison Avenue has sent to housewives for over 50 years now. And it's telling that the music in that commercial was the theme from Bewitched because it almost takes magical powers for a woman to do it all in this day and age. To juggle home, hubby, kids and career

and not be trapped in the feminine mystique. When I began to write this episode, I had a different theme in mind. I wanted to explore how the advertising industry markets to women. But as I researched the roots of that marketing strategy, I discovered that Madison Avenue didn't just market to women, it actually created the concept of the happy homemaker. By encouraging moms to stay home, advertisers secured the world's biggest business, housekeeping. As a result, the happy homemaker became the dominant advertising image for more than 25 years.

But for every action, there was an equal and opposite reaction. The women's movement of the 70s was really a reaction to the stifling stereotypes that held women back for so long. When the happy homemaker image was eventually replaced by the supermom, women were encouraged

to have it all. But in reality, it was advertisers who had it all because it allowed companies to celebrate the working woman while still targeting her as their number one customer.

And it still applies today, as women control or influence 85% of consumer spending. And therein lies the uneasy tension between the manufacturers of handy time-saving appliances and the gender that buys them. Because it prompts the question, have you really come a long way, baby? When you're under the influence.

I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the Terrastream Mobile Recording Studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly. Sound Engineer, Jeff Devine. Under the influence theme by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Tunes provided by APM Music. Follow me on social

at Terry O'Influence. If you liked this episode, you might also like our sister podcast titled We Regret to Inform You, The Rejection Podcast. It tells inspiring stories of people who overcome

massive career rejection and succeed by never giving up. You'll find it wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also find our podcasts on the new Apostrophe YouTube channel. And if you think there are too many ads

in a show about advertising, making you super unhappy, you can now listen to our podcasts ad-free on Amazon Music. See you next time. Fun fact! The 1972 Burt Reynolds Centerfold in Cosmo actually inspired the launch of Playgirl magazine in 1973.