Cadburys Bourn-Vita: No Loafing!

1954
Sound
2m

Sweet 'docu-ad' for Cadbury's Bourn-vita, filmed at Hogsthorpe, Lincolnshire.

Mrs Wing of Hogsthorpe, Lincs, is one busy lady. Her day includes running her family bakery and shop with her husband. It also includes taking care of her sons, house and garden - and for these bits she's apparently flying solo... Then Mr and Mrs Wing's day ends with a warming cup of Cadbury's Bourne-vita, the brand that sponsored this sweet-tasting 'docu-commercial'.

No Loafing! was one of a dozen films made, in this brisk and capable style, by the production company Anglo-Scottish for commissioner Cadbury's. They were released to cinema supporting programmes between 1952 and 1955, under the series title Other Women's Lives. Squarely aimed at a female demographic, they're a highly digestible hybrid of straight commercial with sponsored documentary (or in today's parlance, branded content). In each case, the advertiser's money shot kicks in only in the final moments of an engaging two-minute 'day-in-the-life' doc.

What Women Want?

Caring mums, hard-working housewives or independent, fun-loving 'new women' - the female consumer has long been a target of screen advertising.

In the cause of selling anything from baked beans to washing powders to all manner of labour-saving devices, advertisers have promised to make women's lives easier and to help them build happy homes and successful relationships.

There's no getting past the fact that women have all-too often been patronised and objectified by a male-dominated advertising industry. But screen advertising also tells (and sells) a more positive story of social progress for women, with increasing social and economic independence. This collection tracks the ups and downs of female empowerment in the 20th century, with its false steps as revealing as its forward ones.