There was a brief spell at the turn of the century when rediscovered retro imagery provided a startling reminder of the sins of the past. A treasure trove of advertising archives surfaced online, bringing a thrilling schadenfreude that allowed us to balk piously at the blatant ignorance, sexism, bigotry and pure wrong-headedness of old school advertising.
In recent years, we’ve had Mad Men weaving a compelling narrative out of this particular mire, and it’s safe to say that the intersection of old-fashioned ignorance and what was then ultra-modern media still holds a morbid fascination. Charles Saatchi’s latest compendium pulls together the best of the worst, complete with typically pithy dismissals.
What's saddest of all – as a glimpse at the trending social media of the day regularly reveals – is that such attitudes are not as safely confined to history as we might like, meaning that Beyond Belief fails to make you feel better about yourself.
The first chapter, entitled 'Keep her where she belongs...', covers the brutally sexist adverts created in the middle of the 20th century
Unpleasant marketing techniques often portrayed women as weak or inferior. Pictured left: Tipalet, Young & Rubicam Agency, in Playboy, 1970. Right: Weyenberg Massagic shoes, in Playboy, 1972
Pictured: Pall Mall, Sullivan, Staugger, Cowell & Bayles Agency, 1951
The second chapter explores laughably bold cigarette adverts; for example, Pall Mall's claim that their longer 'smooth' cigarette were healthier are they filtered out the harsh chemicals.
Pictured left: Lucky Strike, Lord, Thomas & Logan Agency, 1930. Right: Marlboro, Milton Biow Agency, 1951
Children were often used by Marlboro to promote smoking as a family activity.
The 'Prozac Nation' chapter studies the misleading advertising of the medicine industry. Pictured is an ad for the anti-psychotic drug Loxopac, promoted to help reduce aggression in the elderly by sedating them
US firearms manufacturer Iver Johnson advertised cocaine as a 'new anaesthetic' that was an 'instantaneous cure' for toothache
This incredulous campaign was designed to promote a beer dispenser accessory for your car
INFORMATION
Beyond Belief, by Charles Saatchi, £25, published by Booth-Clibborn Editions. For more information, visit the publisher’s website
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