A brief history of TV Spokesmannequins

You've seen 'em by now -- those ubiquitous, annoyingly "Supermodelequinns" spots for Old Navy, which simultaneously portray both store mannequins and "Old Navy" shoppers as vapid, soulless, hunks of sculpted plastic:

Of course, the SpokesInaminateObject concept isn't particularly new. In fact, for several years now, we've had to endure the pointlessly disconnectedness of the Travelocity Gnome:

And of course, before that, we had the disturbingly cherubic Buddy Lee non-action figure in this Lee Jean campaign starting in 1998:

Oh, and let's not forget the skin-crawlingly plasticized expressions of the Burger King starting 2003:

...which in itself, seemed to be a minimalist version of not to mention those creepy "Putterman" family members in this Duracell campaign of the early 1990s:

And around the same time, the frozen-faced icon of the 1990s "Jack In The Box" campaign:

But I think you can trace the lineage of all these spots back to this inanimate celebrity and Boomer icon (and naturally, contemporary pitchman):

The artist approves...

Panty hose may be sold to women, but they're really made for men -- or so this 1951 ad campaign seems to be admitting:

"Cannon nylons do something for my legs" gushes the headline -- but despite the first-person voice, the real testimonial comes from the artist who illustrated those shapely gams:

I can't decipher the artist's signature (or recognize his photo), but based on other ads in the series, I'm pretty sure he was one of the popular "pin-up girl" illustrators of the era. And as such, a pop-cultural authority, I guess, on how a well-turned leg should appear.

An interesting idea, and well executed. Despite adapting an art form that was created pretty much exclusively for men, the artist's style -- here, equal parts sensual and "girl next door" -- seems non-threatening to women while showing them an idealized version of the appearance they want.

Other ads in the series feature more easily identifiable pin-up artists, including Frederick J. Smith...

...Robert Patterson...

..and Jon Whitcombe.

If the idea of letting notable artists interpret your product seems more contemporary than this, that may be because this liquor-maker employed a similar campaign through the '80s and '90s:

(Cameron, by the way, is fashion designer David Cameron; the model is Rachel Williams.)

Nerd Appeal

Interesting celebrity endorsement:

That's actor Wally Cox, a character actor of the '50s/'60s known for playing milquetoasts in sitcoms and variety shows, starting with his 1952 show, "Mr. Peepers." Given the aspirational nature of most adult beverage advertising (then as well as now), it's a bit surprising to see Cox in this ad. After all, his fame notwithstanding, he's not exactly the type of person most liquors would want to associate their products with. Was Lee Marvin busy?

Wally Cox? Why not just get Woody Allen to pitch Smirnoff?

Oh, wait a minute:

Well, Smirnoff, since you've gone this far, you might as well complete the 1950s Nerd Triumvirate and get Tony Randall, too:

Take it from the top

Here's a zeitgeist-y ad from 1970 that reflects not one, but I'd guess, two elements of the era's popular culture:

I suppose, after a few shots of rum, some women can be talked into anything, but actually, it was fashion designer Rudi Gernreich who was the inventor of the scandalous but popular -- (though rarely worn in public) "monokini" in 1964. And by inventor, I mean he just followed through on the same thought all bikini-ogling males of the era probably had when eyeing women in their two-piece swimsuits.

What's more interesting to me, however, is the look of the woman "Ron Rico" is about to expose. Despite modeling a swimsuit, she looks mousey, prim, mortified -- and with that limp pixie-cut, she looks a lot like she was intended to suggest a younger version of the prim, mousey "Gladys" portrayed by Ruth Buzzi on the late-'60s hit TV show, "Laugh-In."

Dress for the trip

This 1969 ad for a line of jeans doesn't just speak the visual language of its intended audience,

along with the Vaughn Bode-like graphics and griffiti-inspired typefaces, those hipsters at LB lay it on the line with this barely-veiled reference:

Indeed.

The few. The proud. The mistresses.

I had no idea that being somebody's mistress was so demanding. I thought you just had to put up with sporadic, last-minute trysts and holidays and birthdays spent alone. But apparently, you've got to have a passion for Fibber McGee and own an ocelot, among other things.

This whole 1974 ad bears reading. I guess its somebody's idealized image of a mistress, but even with tongue-in-cheek (I assume), the insecurity and cruelty of the situation for women is perhaps unintentionally touched on with the line about her "seeing a psychiatrist by your giggling at her striptease." It's almost like a "scared straight" thing for The Other Woman. Click on it to enlarge:

Do it like Ditko

Nothing too interesting about the message of this 1959 ad (except that the need to push wood floors as a decorating option seems to be in response to the post-World War II growth of "wall to wall" carpet, plastics and laminate furniture), except for the surreal, deconstructed representation of a home...

...which could well have inspired (or been inspired by) the surreal, deconstructed images of 1950s/60s comic book artist (and later Spider-Man co-creator) Steve Ditko: