The catchy Shake n’ Vac jingle; the steamy Levi’s laundrette strip; the woman enjoying a Flake in a bath – these were more than just adverts, they were the talk of the nation.
And they were all created by pioneering women.
In the 1970s, the male-dominated advertising industry made way for a trailblazing group of female creatives at a time when TV commercials were often better than the programmes they were shown in the middle of. In a Channel 4 documentary called Mad Women, to be screened tonight, some of them speak out about the stories behind the ads, the cut-throat industry we know from TV hit Mad Men and their revolutionary campaigns.
