Banned Vintage Ads That Would Cause A Riot Today 

By | January 4, 2023

Stevie Wonder Atari Ad

You won’t believe what they used to claim in advertisements of the past! From outrageous claims to total falsehoods to blatant sexism and racism, it seems the Mad Men of days gone by could get away with being insensitive, inaccurate, and politically incorrect all in the name of advertising. 

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Did this ad just poke fun at a person with a disability? Yes, it did! Superstar recording artist Stevie Wonder has been blind since infancy. He hasn’t let that disability stop him from becoming one of America’s all-time great singer and songwriter. But asking Stevie to be the pitch man for a video gaming system seems like quite the stretch. Surely there was another celebrity spokesman that Atari could have used. Still, it is humbling and inspiring that Stevie is able to joke about his disability. 

The chef does everything but cook 

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Even though women were advocating for an equal share of the workforce, societal norms still dictated that women be dutiful housewives. The sixties and seventies were filled with cultural references sharing the belief that women should stay at home, keeping house and raising the children, and advertising played into this old-fashioned notion with ads like this one that states that women are supposed to cook for their husbands. It seemed as though advertising companies were doing their part to reverse any progress that women’s lib made by continuing with sexist ads like this one.