While I recover from my fantastic and busy holiday – I share with you this article on vintage ads that are truly unbelievable in the way we used to think about and trust in big business!
From “DDT is good for me” to the paint company, Dutch Boy, creating “The Lead Family” and having a Lead Party with their paint!! How about Lysol for your lady-parts, ladies!
What Were We Thinking? The Top 10 Most Dangerous Ads
By: Hunter Oatman-Stanford, Collector’s Weekly
Seems clever (all be it deceitful) marketing can turn even smart people into dummies. We still see it with all sorts of products. There’s this ‘Heart Smart’ label controversy right now. Consumers might think that buying a product with a ‘Heart Smart’ label is responsible shopping, but apparently companies can ‘BUY’ that label from Health Canada. One example is Campbell’s Soup, which has an insane amount of sodium right on the label.
Holy smack — all I could see as I looked at those ads were a bunch of ‘Mad’ men sitting around a huge conference table, literally deciding the fate of people.
Seeing one of those ads Vi-Rex Violet Rays (“Build Up Personality” — just wow) reminded me of a1920’s ad. X-ray machines were once used in shoe stores to check shoe sizes, and people were exposed to deadly radiation, especially sales people, pregnant women and children, many of them dying from cancer before science became aware of the hazards of being over exposed..
I always wonder how much they really did or didn’t know. I mean, come on, Lysol as a douche? What ever makes your man happy?!
Great point on the x-rays – thanks for adding the clip!
I want the vitamin donuts! The weird lead friends frighten me. I used to bury my head under the covers when I slept over my cousins’ house because I was sure they had lead paint chips falling from the ceiling.
LOL – you must have been an informed child! I made my husband repaint our entire “rented” older house in 1980 after our first child was born. Ah, vitamin donuts, if only 🙂