Vintage Chase & Sanborn Coffee Ad

For many more examples of vintage advertising, visit my other blog, Found in Mom's Basement.

 

Comments

[Andrew Tellio]

After viewing this ad, I was left wondering what it endorses. It seems to promote old world views. I found this ad to say, "it's okay to beat your wife if she makes poor decisions." It's interesting to see just how far we've come. I wonder what's next.

Thanks,

Andrew Tellio

[Kate Long]

I had no idea how far advertising has come. Sure, sex still sells, but at least we're no longer promoting the spanking of women for not "store-testing" the coffee's freshness.

[evilgenius]

Actually, this ad is a total hoax and has been documented to be an urban myth combined with some good photoshop work. It never existed.

[Paula Zargaj-Reynolds]

Evilgenius, where did you hear that? I googled and couldn't find anything about this ad being a hoax.

[Morenoland]

"Actually, this ad is a total hoax..." Absolutely FALSE! I used to have an issue of a very old magazine with this exact same ad in it. I was quite surprised when I came across it. The ad was absolutely real.

[klau]

this is sexist vintage!!

[Signifier]

Hi Paula I was wondering if you knew by any chance what magazine it was and when the ad was printed?

[PZR]

Sorry, I don't know.

[Kerrie Cusack]

Do you know how I could obtain a copy of this magazine or a poster of the advert?

Many thanks

Kerrie

[Paula Zargaj-Reynolds]

Kerrie, I'm sorry but I don't know how you would go about finding this ad.

-- Paula

[rachael]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what year this ad was printed? I am doing a paper for school and need to know. Any info or help would be appreciated.

[Nat D.]

im a student at stanford university, writing a research paper on the role of coffee and coffee shops, I was hoping you could tell me where this ad orginally came from? Magazine title? Newspaper? Billboard? etc Thank you so much !

[Paula Zargaj-Reynolds]

Nat, I'm sorry, I don't know.

[Anna]

LOVE this ad! (-:

[Julie Anne]

The infamous Chase and Sanborn "spanked for buying stale coffee" advertisement was from 1952.

It ran in several publications, and was part of a very successful national campaign.

One absolutely provable instance of the ad's appearance is on page 103 of LIFE magazine from August, 1952. It is a full page ad, and the back sheet of that page is page 104, with a photo of a small working train that is about 1/6 size, and a man riding on it. The LIFE photo title is: "Picture of a Brave Engineer"

It is most assuredly NOT a hoax.

[Pervy McClaren]

women wore sexier and more mysterious things under their skirts back then.

[Chuck Duboy]

I remember this ad when it appeared in the August 17,1952 printing of Life Magazine. The ad wasn't to far off in showing domestic discipline in the 1950s. Early television had Lucille Ball being spanked OTK by her husband Desi Arnaz on "I Love Lucy" several times and Jackie Cooper spanked Patricia Breslin OTK on "The People's Choice. In today's media it is very unlikely that this would happen. But if you look at the internet you can find numerous web-sites especially pornographic picturing women naked being spanked by naked men which to me is totally disgusting. If I look at a picture of a woman being spanked I prefer her to be fully clothed or at least wearing a slip covering her bottom as she is being spanked. The issue of adult spanking is between adults and is a matter of dominance and control. There are some women who feel that there is no problem being spanked by the man they love and feel something is missing when they are not spanked for something they said or did wrong. In addition there are some men who are either ultra conservative in their religious beliefs or feel it necessary to assume the role of "head of household" and see nothing wrong with disciplining their wives by spanking them. In some relationships spanking is a prelude to meaningful sex. There are again web-sites where both men and women feel that spanking has solidified their relationships. Getting back to the Chase & Sanborn Coffee ad, I think the ad portrays the husband after telling his wife several times how important the freshness of his coffee should be and her not responding decides after the first taste of that morning's coffee that when she confesses that she did not test for freshness he feels he has no choice but to turn her over his knee and give her a good sound spanking. Looking at the chair he is seated in, the spanking has to be taking place at the dinning room table. I've wondered since first seeing this ad did this man actually spank her to get the pained look on her face for her expression is truly priceless! I also sense that this is not the first spanking she has received from her husband and probably won't be the last one since spanking is part of their relationship. What attracts me to the ad is that he has pulled her dress up and is spanking her on her sexy slip and petticoat adding to the excitement and meaning of the spanking. I also like the fact that he is spanking her with his hand and not a belt or whip or other implement. Thus the spanking is personal and intimate. I must also add that I think a woman's slip is the sexiest item in her wardrobe and that this ad is a dream come true. I would love to hear what others think of my thoughts.

[Paula Zargaj-Reynolds]

One thing's for sure, Chuck, you've given this a lot of thought!

[Chuck Duboy]

Thank you for your response and yes Paula I have given it much thought since first seeing the ad in Life Magzine which my family subscribed to at the time. I think what attracted me to the ad was that it was the first time I ever saw a man spanking a woman over his knee. To me spanking was just for children and not adults. And what further got my attention was the raised skirt revealing her slip and petticoat. Over the years I have researched this ad checking the other periodicals of that time including Look Magazine, Colliers, Saturday Evening Post and Good Housekeeping and it seems that Life Magazine is the only periodical to run this ad and they only ran it once and that was the August 17, 1952 date. I've wondered if there was such an uproar even then that Chase & Sanborn decided to pull the ad from future printing. And I wonder if the ad did sell more coffee?
On another note, I am not into domestice violence or for that matter any consensual forms of discipline in my 40 plus year marriage. I did however have a relationship with another woman several years before I met my wife who became aware of my fascination with the Chase & Sanborn Coffee ad and allowed me to spank her erotically OTK on her slip covered bottm. But as I stated in terms of domestic violence I am soundly against it.

I appreciate your reponse Paula and would love to communicate with you some more via e-mail if this is possible.

Thank you for posting my entry from Sunday.

Chuck

[A Facebook User]

I can't believe I just found the ad in the August 11, 1952 edition of Life Magazine. It really does exist! Thanks Chuck for the heads up on the date!