Sunday
Sep132009
Clorox Dooms Women To Do The Laundry FOREVER!
No Carla the Maid in this retrograde, revisionist Clorox ad.My friend Dot pointed out that this commercial was running before Mad Men previews on AMC's Web site and I found a plethora of things wrong with it.
1) Most depressing laundry ad ever from the music to the "women have always done the laundry" statement
2) You know the women on Mad Men DO NOT do their own laundry (cue black maid)
3) The ONLY thing that could have made this ad worse would be if they had shown a series of black, Asian and finally Latina maids from 1913 to today doing folks laundry because again ... ahem ... you know those women on Mad Men do not do their own laundry!
Clorox FAIL!
tagged 
Mad Men, advertising, gender issues, media, race
Mad Men, advertising, gender issues, media, race 
Reader Comments (9)
Women should say, "Do your own damn laundry!" Hee, hee
Not everyone had maids, especially in the 60's. Most maids around here (midwest) in the early 1900's were Scandinavian anyway.
Uber-fail but from a different angle. Does anyone not find it odd that a bleach advert (touted for keeping clothes "pure white") has not one featured person of color? <creeped out>
was laundry done predominantly by men back then?
I miss the connection being made between the ad and the show. On the other hand, I'm sure if there was a person of color, someone would claim that Clorox was reinforcing a stereotype. Is there any way for Clorox to make an ad that is simply an ad?
I understand the offense, but I actually don't mind the commercial. Men often screw up doing the laundry anyway, all kinds of bleach accidents, putting delicates with other stuff, etc.
Glad someone else noticed this! I watched Mad Men on DVD and this ad was on the 2nd season DVD. I thought maybe it was purposely done that way to keep with the "themes" of the Mad Men era. The women on the show like Peggy do their own laundry. But it would have been nice to see a man throw some clothes in the washer.
Um, I think y'all might be missing something:
"They all did the laundry. Maybe even a man or two"
HELLO. THEY ALL DID A MAN OR TWO.
As a wise Latina with a degree from a womens college who shares laundry duties with the male in the house, I was more shocked by the poor grammar than anything else. and BTW, it's hilarious.
Who ever they hired to do their advertising should be fired. This commercial is beyond sexist. American patriarchy at its finest. And BTW, you are right...It would have been more truthful if "Mammy" was in the background somewhere cause we all know who really did the laundry.