Advertising for dummies: The ancient art of reducing women to packaging
- Fotoprostudio
- Jul 29
- 6 min read
Introduction:
Sexism and Advertising Photography
Photography, like all forms of artistic expression and visual communication, is not immune to reproducing the stereotypes and inequalities present in society. One of the most outrageous—and urgent to eradicate—issues is the sexism and misogyny that, for decades, have colonized advertising imagery under the guise of creativity. This article pulls no punches: we collect and dissect some of the most sexist ads of all time, true monuments to the visual patriarchy that have marketed everything from ties to hamburgers, vodka to tires, always at the expense of women’s bodies and dignity.
1. Van Heusen – "Show her it's a man's world" (1950s)
A classic of contempt wrapped in commercial cellophane. The image shows a woman kneeling, submissively serving breakfast to her husband. The message? "Show her it’s a man’s world." More than selling ties, this ad aimed to make it clear who’s in charge and who serves in the domestic scene.
2. Tipalet Cigarettes – "Blow in her face and she’ll follow you anywhere" (1970s)
Machismo disguised as seduction. This ad suggests that blowing smoke at a woman is an infallible technique to dominate her. The woman as a being without will, at the mercy of a man's breath. A piece that encapsulates the contempt with which the female image has historically been conceived in advertising.
3. Mr. Leggs Pants – "It’s nice to have a girl around the house" (1960s)
A woman literally transformed into a carpet. This is not a metaphor: the ad shows her on the floor, dragged by the ankles. Few images have been so graphically violent in their contempt for women. Objectification here becomes brutal literalism.
4. Goodyear – "If your husband ever finds out…" (1961)
A tire and a warning: "If your husband finds out..." This was the beginning of a Goodyear campaign aimed at women, with a clear and disturbing message—better change the tire without him knowing. Because if he discovers it, there will be consequences.
This ad not only reinforces the idea that women are clumsy, incompetent, or foreign to the world of automobiles, but goes further: it normalizes fear as part of the marital relationship, suggests that male control is law, and that punishment is a predictable outcome.
It's a chilling portrayal of the female role in period advertising: passivity, obedience, and guilt. And while today it may seem cartoonish, what’s disturbing is that this type of discourse was, for years, part of the dominant commercial script.
A tire can save lives. But this campaign—on the contrary—validates a narrative of submission that no brand should ever have inflated.
5. Belvedere Vodka – "Unlike some people, Belvedere always goes down smoothly" (2012)
The image shows a woman trying to break free while a man holds her from behind. The text, "Unlike some people, Belvedere goes down smoothly," draws a disturbing parallel: what the vodka achieves, she seemingly does not.
The message leaves no room for interpretation: it suggests a scene of sexual assault, treated with a tone of complicity and humor. This is not provocation. It is the trivialization of violence.
Turning a woman's resistance into a joke to sell alcohol is not just a bad creative decision. It is a serious ethical violation. A campaign that crossed all boundaries—and not because it was bold, but because it was irresponsible.
6. American Apparel – Various campaigns (2000s)
Beneath the "alternative" or "hipster" aesthetic, American Apparel created a catalog of adolescent exploitation. Almost infantile bodies in explicit poses, genitals and breasts as focal points, and all with homemade aesthetics. Pornography disguised under the pretext of being cool.
7. Tom Ford – Perfume campaigns (2007-2012)
Tom Ford transformed the female body into a luxury billboard. Perfume bottles positioned between thighs, on bare breasts, or held by male hands. His idea of sophistication was the reduction of women to mere vessels for glass and fragrance.
Although this Tom Ford campaign was especially controversial at the time, recent examples show that the objectification of the female body in advertising is still prevalent, as seen in this analysis of the most sexist ads of 2024 published by Cadena SER.
8. BMW – "You know you're not the first" (2012)
It supposedly talks about used cars, but the double meaning is clear: it compares a woman to a second-hand vehicle.
It's not clever. It's misogyny wrapped in cheap irony.
The ad suggests that a woman's value, like a car's, depends on how many "owners" she has had. A degrading view that perpetuates the logic of women as consumable objects with an expiration date.
For a brand like BMW to resort to such a message is not provocative; it's simply irresponsible. Advertising evolves, but sexism, when disguised as humor, tends to linger.
9. Dolce & Gabbana – Scene of apparent group abuse (2007)
A woman lying down, immobilized by a man while several others watch. This image, part of a fashion campaign, visually evokes a scene of collective sexual domination.
The problem? It’s not what the model consented to on set, but what the image communicates. In advertising, we don’t see reality—we see symbols. And this one symbolizes inequality, submission, and aestheticized violence.
There’s no irony, no critique, no context inviting reflection. Just a scene that turns violence into brand language.
This is not art. It’s marketing. And when selling a fragrance requires depicting oppression as desirable or aspirational, it’s not aesthetic provocation—it’s visual irresponsibility.
10. Burger King – "It’ll blow your mind away" (2009)
A woman with her mouth open, positioned in front of a hamburger at a clearly phallic angle. The text tops off the offense. Advertising that turns fellatio into a joke to sell fast food. Sexism disguised as humor, one of the most cowardly forms of graphic misogyny.
Conclusion
These ads are not accidents or miscalculations. They are deliberate products of an industry that, for decades, has known exactly how to manipulate female bodies to sell, reinforce stereotypes, and perpetuate hierarchies. Advertising photography has not only witnessed sexism; it has been its active ally. While it may seem like a thing of the past, contemporary advertising still perpetuates sexist stereotypes, as highlighted in this RTVE article.
Criticism cannot be lukewarm in the face of these examples. We must name, denounce, and deconstruct these images with boldness. If we want to transform visual culture, we must understand that every sexist image published without consequences is an open door to the normalization of abuse and inequality. The solution is not censorship; it is awareness, visual education, and creative ethics, as clearly argued in this educational resource.
Because it’s not just about bad campaigns: it’s about how the narrative of a woman's worth is constructed. And for too long, that value has been measured in flesh, submission, and silence.
Final Reflection: Objectification in the Digital Age
We live in an era where the boundaries between empowerment and objectification have become more blurred than ever. Social media, visual platforms, and the culture of self-exposure have introduced a new dynamic: it’s not always a brand or an advertiser who objectifies, but sometimes the person themselves in front of the camera. Women and men post images in which they replicate sexist aesthetics, seeking likes, approval, or visibility.
This phenomenon is not casual: it is the result of decades of visual conditioning, of a collective imagination that has linked personal value with appearance and sexualization. When the industry stops imposing certain images, the market has already internalized them so deeply that individuals reproduce them themselves.
It’s not about criticizing free bodily expression or the use of the body as an artistic or communicative tool. It’s about questioning where these decisions come from, which images sustain them, and whether they truly stem from personal desire or from a gaze we have learned to adopt as our own. The current visual culture requires, more than ever, critical literacy—a deep reflection on what we show and why we show it.
Comments