Television commercials for Folgers coffee specifically targeted women, telling them that their husbands were displeased with their coffee. As with the cultural norm of this time, it was the women's duty to make sure that their coffee was to their husband's satisfaction. The following commercials for Folgers exemplify these gender roles.
"If I could just make a decent cup of coffee, I could relax!" the wife unhappily shares with her friend. The advertisement implies that a woman's main concerns should be ensuring that her husband is happy.
Even worse, the wife later moans, "And he didn't even kiss me goodbye!" She completely disregards the fact that her husband was rudely speaking to her that morning, and is only concerned that he didn't kiss her before he left.
In this advertisement, the husband yells at his wife for making bad coffee, and even throws it into the garden. Instead of being upset by her husband's behavior, the wife is more concerned with finding a way to make her husband happier. Of course, once she delivers a better tasting cup of coffee, the husband is suddenly sweet and affectionate.
"How can such a pretty wife make such bad coffee?" the husband wonder aloud. Folgers is showing the idea that a wife should not only be beautiful, but should also adequately serve her husband by delivering him a fresh cup of coffee every morning as he shaves.
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