Fairy Liquid: Nanette Newman

1980
Sound
1m

Stepford wife Nanette Newman becomes the face of mild green Fairy Liquid in this iconic advert.

Nanette Newman became the face of Fairy Liquid in the 1980s, starring in a number of adverts. Among her many stage and screen performances, Newman was known as one of the Stepford Wives in the 1975 film adaptation. The Fairy Liquid adverts traded in the Stepford-like qualities of its dish detergent: it is efficient at cleaning stubborn dirt, but leaves hands as soft as ever.

Advert for washing up liquid featuring Nanette Newman.

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.