In order to honor women on this International Women’s Day, beer producer Budweiser remade three sexist ads they had back in the ’50s and ’60s.
The gesture was aimed at showing that the company wants to conform to the new set of societal norms.
In the previous ads, according to the norms that prevailed then, women were objectified and were portrayed as something inferior, something owned by their husbands.
It is true that we have not yet achieved the perfect society and that there are areas which need improvement – but things have improved substantially between then and now.
To show the same improvement in their thinking and social beliefs, the folks at Budweiser decided to redo their old ads to make them acceptable by current standards of gender equality and women empowerment.
For us, the younger generations, it is not possible to imagine what was the position of women back in the 50’s.
At that time, gender decided the roles of individuals. Women were just supposed to be devoted mothers giving themselves into servitude of their husbands.
The perfect woman at that time did not ask for any rights and was sexualized at the behest of men.
The media at that time portrayed this image with pride and masculine brands like Budweiser always placed men at the forefront of their advertising campaigns.
The same is still happening in the undeveloped parts of the world and in the more conservative families. These practices continue to damage the self-esteem, confidence, and personality of women worldwide.
Speaking of Budweiser, they have taken serious measures to undo their sexist past and have brought back the same ads with the vintage touch of blooming colors and, of course, without any sexist remarks.
The ads now show the modern women living their life at their own will, being at equality with men.
A slogan that read: “She found she married two men” in 1956 has now been replaced by: “She found she has it all.”
Another ad from 1958 that showed a lady serving a bottle of Budweiser to her husband is now replaced with one that shows a couple dining together, having a caption: “Home is where life happens and life happens when you build it together.”
The third and last remade ad is from 1960. It initially showed a woman serving beer to her husband who was having dinner. Now it shows the same lady enjoying her evening with a caption: “It’s Friday, your favorite takeout just got here. Crack open a cold Bud and enjoy some time to yourself.”
Budweiser has partially done this as a part of the “#SeeHer” initiative by the Association of National Advertisers.
The aim of this initiative is to improve the way women are portrayed in ads across all the industries.
Even though the ads now are more respecting and positive about women than they were in the mid-1900’s, there still is a large room for improvement.
#SeeHer campaign data shows that only 61% of the ads portray women in a positive way, which shows there’s still a long way to go.
Replaced!