How Did Charlotte Montgomery's Advertising Respond To Feminism Towards Women?

If we look throughout the course of history’s advertising, we are able to see that advertisements have typically always been aimed towards women. Life in the 1940s was a changing time in society. It was the end of World War II, the men were coming home and the women were working outside of the household. According to a website about Women and World War II, by the end of 1944 37 percent of women worked outside the home. This is 36.1 percent of the civilian work force (www.msudenver.edu). Because the husbands were away, the women had to both work and be the primary shoppers in the household. They handled the money and how it was spent. Even when sex was introduced in advertising, it was aimed towards women, one study suggests that, “Women remember sexual ads with the actual images of the specific people shown. Similarly, in ads with nude figures-either male or female-the women remember the name of the brand nearly 40 percent more frequently than men do. Men will remember the …show more content…
One criticism to the campaign came from an early September 1948 issue of Tide, “ Charlotte Montgomery discussed the controversy surrounding the campaign. She explained the advertisements—that is, the illustrations (“semi-nudes”) and the copy (“baffling”)—then asked whether the advertisements were directed to consumers. Finally, she added, ‘ I wonder if someone is using a very expensive method to amuse his friends, collect pictures for his whoopee room and cause talk that may flatter egos but can do more harm than good in the long run” (Applegate. 2012. p. 128). Montgomery was not alone with this criticism, there were numerous letters sent in complaining about the campaign, one example is “ your illustrations and copy are both vulgar—and I feel, as do many with whom I have spoken—that you are certainly doing yourself more harm than good” (Applegate. 2012. p