Heinz Baked Beans: Mum in a Million

1968
Sound
1m

There's no arguing with a million housewives in this 1960s ad from Heinz.

Give kids something they love without leaving a hole in the housekeeping budget. According to this late-sixties TV ad, a million housewives a day were choosing Heinz Baked Beans.

Advert for Heinz product.

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.