by Lourn Eidal \\
Marketing and advertising are powerful forces that have shaped our attitudes and behavior since the early 1800s when this content started appearing in newspapers, and then the early 1940s when it was showing up on television broadcasts.
You would think that advertising execs would be more responsible using this power, but this isn’t the case. Advertising has never upheld moral standards very well. Looking back at ads from the past, you might be shocked by the choices that were made. Frankly, some of it is downright funny, too. Some are sexist, some are racist, and some are simply peppered with lies.
Here is a brief look of some outrageous ads from the past.
![vintage sexist newspaper ad featuring female model in bikini with the headline "Men wouldn't look at me when I was skinny, but since I gained 10 pounds this new, easy way, I have all the dates I want."](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/yeast-weight-vintage-ad.jpg)
![Vintage Gillette ad with baby holding razor](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/baby-razor-vintage-ad.jpg)
![Vintage Lucky Strike cigarette ad featuring woman with the headline "To keep a slender figure, no one can deny... reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet"](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/weight-cigarette-vintage-ad.jpg)
![image from a vintage sexist print ad with a 1950s husband kneeling next to his wife and measuring her leg with a yardstick, with the headline "How to measure your wife for an ironing table!"](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ironing-table-vintage-ad.jpg)
![vintage print ad for cigarettes featuring Santa Claus asking you to smoke Pall Mall cigarettes](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/santa-cigarette-vintage-ad.jpg)
![vintage magazine ad showing a stork carrying a baby cradled in a clear bag with the headline "The best things in life come in Cellophane"](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/baby-cellophane-vintage-ad.jpg)
![vintage sexist magazine ad for Hoover with the headline "Christmas morning, she'll be happier with a Hoover"](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/vacuum-cleaner-vintage-ad.jpg)
![vintage ad for Cocaine Toothache Drops circa 1885](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/cocaine-drops-vintage-ad.jpg)
![vintage print ad from Popular Mechanics with a photo of a man wearing an elongated domed helmet with the headline "New kind of hat worn 10 minutes a day grows hair in 30 days or no cost."](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/hair-growth-vintage-ad.jpg)
![The unvarnished racism that appears in advertising of the past is shocking.](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/racist-soap-vintage-ad.jpg)
![sexist ketchup ad with headline reading "You mean a woman can open it?"](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/sexist-catsup-vintage-ad.jpg)
![sexist print ad with the headline "Shhh! Mom's on the warpath!"](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/soap-vintage-ad.jpg)
![Again, women must always consider men's feelings about their appearance. Hoo boy.](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/sexist-soap-vintage-ad.jpg)
![vintage newspaper ad for The Safe Maternity Corset](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/maternity-corset-vintage-ad.jpg)
![Sex sells, as you can see from these vintage ads.](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/sexist-vintage-ads.jpg)
![Vintage Coca-Cola ad describing the beverage as The Ideal Brain Tonic - Specific for Headaches - Relieves Mental and Physicial Exhaustion](https://crystalpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/brain-tonic-vintage-ad.jpg)
![](https://crystalpeak.com/cpd5/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/asthma-cigarettes-vintage-ad.jpg)