247) The Ad Icons

Advertising Age has been posting these "Book of Tens" lists as the first decade of the new millennium comes to an end. One such list is the 10 best advertising icons of the past ten years. These memorable mascots are:

- Travelocity's Roaming Gnome
- Geico's Cavemen
- Old Spice's The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
- Apple's Mac & PC
- Dos Equis' Most Interesting Man in the World
- Burger King's The King
- E-Trade's Talking Babies
- Capital One's Visigoths (um, Vikings?)
- Charmin's The Charmin Bears
- Mucinex's Mucus Monster

While the inclusion and exclusion of certain icons is debatable (Mucinex? Really?), one fact remains: they are all male. From the comments on the post, several people thought Progressive's Flo deserved a spot in the top ten, but other than that no other females were in the running.

I googled "top female advertising icons" to see if anyone had shown the ladies some love. Back in 2008, Jezebel listed the Top 10 Female Product Advertising Icons and the Actresses Who Could Replace Them (whew). Here's their verdict (actresses omitted):

- Land O Lakes' Indian Maiden
- Mrs. Butterworth
- SunMaid
- Aunt Jemima
- Utz Girl
- Little Miss Sunbeam
- Morton Salt Girl
- Coppertone Girl
- Tropic-Ana
- Chiquita Banana

You'll notice a couple things. First, almost all of these characters were created between 1900-1950 (I have no idea who Little Miss Sunbeam is). Second, all have long been silenced, with the exception of the SunMaid, who was re-animated in 2009, and Mrs. Butterworth who claims she is "still just as sweet" in 2007.



I don't really consider myself a feminist, but where the ladies at? The only other modern female ad icon I can think of is the hideously smug woman in the Glade commercials. Can you think of any others?

That's not to say that women are never in commercials. However in the past decade, for whatever reason, they seem to lack the pull required to become iconic. Are men simply better salesmen? (Have you ever seen a female car salesperson?) And if so, does that mean we inherently trust a man's opinion more when it comes to shelling out moolah? Basically, why is this the case?

(Mini aside - Holiday happenings in full effect in Palo Alto. The fam getting a tree and Kyli putting up with us.)