After World War II: Women as Servers

Viewing women as servers of coffee after World War II, yet again, we see themes presented by Parkin. The advertisement on the left shows a woman pouring out a cup of coffee with her presumed husband kissing her on the cheek. Dialogue on the bottom of the advertisement shows that he thinks this is the best coffee she has made, speaking to Parkin’s argument that advertisements show that women should show love through food and drink. In this advertisement, we see a return to the fundamentals of advertising previously seen where women are subservient to men.

This next advertisement is most interesting in the text. Firstly, in this advertisement the characters are all cows with human characteristics. The male cow is yelling to ask where his razor is and his wife simply states that she put it on the top shelf so their son wouldn’t try and shave. She then states “Now dear, it’s as natural for a boy to reach for his father’s razor as it is for a woman to reach for a jar of that wonderful Borden’s Instant Coffee when she wants to serve really super coffee…” This emphasizes not only her duty to serve quality coffee, but also how it appears to be “natural” to her. Yet again in post World War II coffee advertising, we see no mention of women’s role outside of the home and only her responsibility and expectation to keep up her domestic duties. Lewis and Neville’s findings in the return to normal advertising is supported by coffee advertising.