Tide advert (1950) representation

In the 1950s Tide print advert, we see a clear representation of women. 

Firstly, we see that the Tide advert has lots of red fonts as well as a distinctive theme throughout the advert. The colour red in colour psychology suggests power and dominance. Here we can clearly see that although the colour red may be associated with females and feminine adverts, it may also suggest the dominating nature of the product and its superiority. The product is shown being hugged by a woman happily smiling which may represent the regressive attitude that a woman loves household chores and will continue to fulfil domestic duties. 

Secondly, we see that the tide advert personifies the product as a man. We see that the product is specifically personified as a man as the bold red font reads “Tide’s got what women want”. Here it is evident that the advert is using the characteristics of the man such as power and dominance (hence the colour red) to persuade the readers of the print advert to buy the product. It links back to the idea that the product is personified and hugged by a woman like she would to her husband. The love hearts above the woman hugging the tide washing power suggests this intimate relationship between her and the product which creates this parallel between a heterosexual couple. The representations show that a woman is loving, however, it still conveys her status within the relationship as the product isn't hugging the woman. Here the ideology may be that a woman must provide unconditional love towards a husband and not expect anything back as she is reduced to a household maid. This attitude may arise from the society in which we live in who considers women as inferior and so believes that they should just continually perform household chores. 

Thirdly, we see a small picture in which two women are talking about the product like a normal person. This may suggest that the women are reduced to only talking about men only and will never overcome this in society. One woman in the picture calls tide her “protector” which may link back to the idea that the product is personified as a man and that regardless of a woman’s effort to help their family, a man will always get the credit and be labeled as the “protector”. The underlying messages may also be that women will always continue to do the Labour work such as filling the washing machine and preparing the clothes to be worn again and despite the product only cleaning the clothes, it will get all the recognition. 

Overall, we can see that the Tide advert has a clear regressive attitude towards women and reduces them to be mere cleaners.