Gender Code
After WWII, women were almost exclusively displayed as housewives and sex objects. In response to the demographic shift of women into the workforce and the women’s liberation movement in the 60s and 70s, advertisements started to adopt a glamorized version of the working woman, dubbed the “new woman” or “superwoman.”
New Woman, New Stereotypes: CoCa-Cola
The Coca-Cola girl has lived for more than a century as the perfect American beauty. For example, Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, lent their faces and cachet to the product. Gil Elvgren painted luscious pin-up girls, and even Santa Claus got in the act. For decades, the Coca-Cola girl has lived gracefully in the overalls of a World War II factory worker and the sleek swimsuit of a sunbather.