POD 09/01/2018 - Sexist Kenmore advert

[wft2800]

You'd never get away with such patronisingly discriminatory advertising today, thank goodness. Still, the dryer itself seems to have several features which might be considered ahead of its time, or otherwise sensible and practical (e.g. the drop-down load door!).

 

[vacerator]

True, there were not many

female mechanics or repair techs then. Sears asked for a drop down door, and Whirlpool obliged. Those were the days when a dryer lasted almost twice the life of a washer. Maybe they still do. A new belt, roller kit, an ignitor coil now and then.
However, I'm an avid Top Gear fan, and did they ever have a female guest or reasonably priced car driver out on the track circuit? I may have missed them.
Why no female presenter either?
Clarkson poked fun at Hammond and May at every opportunity a lack of masculinity pun presented it self.
I would have liked to see Sir Elton John on the show, or Ian McCellan also. Especially after Clarkson planted a kiss on Jamie Oliver on the lips. Maybe they were asked and declined. Matt Damon was on the same episode, and asked if he and Tom Cruse ever meet and talk cars, he replied, no, we got to different churches.
Huh? Hypocracy seems to still abound in some circles.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

We've gone from a society that was Chauvenistic, to one where this sort of thing became OK, to one which is now where an ad like this is Politically Incorrect....

-- Dave

 

[tomturbomatic]

In an interesting piece about the failure of the W.T. Grant Co., I read that one of the factors in Grant's downfall was their trying to sell major appliances. A study showed that Grants' customer base was largely women and children. Men were not familiar with shopping the store and would not consider it as a place to shop for a major appliance nor did most Grants have show windows where they could display majors. Sears, on the other hand, was a family store where men were used to buying tools, tires, yard equipment etc. so when an appliance purchase was considered, they gravitated to Sears as a retailer they knew and trusted and the wife was comfortable in the store also. Both men and women were familiar with the merchandise Sears offered from looking through the catalog. Even if the ad in the POD seems sexist now, it is a selling strategy that still is used on the retail floor: sell features to the woman and construction to the man.

It was Sears' reputation among men and women for sales and service that allowed them to sell more washer-dryer combinations and for a longer period than any other brand. It was also true with color television. A lot of people thought that color TV was perfected enough to be a reliable television purchase when Sears started selling them.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

From a family whose Dad worked for Double-U, Tee:

Soooo--it was my MOM who ordered all those Bradfords...!

-- Dave