---
title: Were ads better in the 1960s?
description: The ad breaks during the new series of Mad Men on Sky Atlantic featured commercials from the early 60s.
---

[![Palmer Ad Agency ](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/hubfs/Identity/Logos/Palmer%20Logos/Palmer%20Ad%20Agency%20%7C%20White%20Logo%20163x40.svg)](https://www.palmeradagency.com)

[![FREE CONSULTATION](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/195545/d8378ea5-668e-4206-804c-5a9be9d86069.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/195545/d8378ea5-668e-4206-804c-5a9be9d86069)

[![Palmer Ad Agency ](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/hubfs/Identity/Logos/Palmer%20Logos/Palmer%20Ad%20Agency%20%7C%20White%20Logo%20163x40.svg)](https://www.palmeradagency.com/)

[![FREE CONSULTATION](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/195545/d8378ea5-668e-4206-804c-5a9be9d86069.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/195545/d8378ea5-668e-4206-804c-5a9be9d86069)

![Blog-Banner](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog-Banner.webp?width=1950&name=Blog-Banner.webp "Blog-Banner")

Our Blog Our latest articles, all in one place.

 Content Topics **

[Marketing Strategy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-strategy)

[Lead Nurturing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/lead-nurturing)

[Social Media Marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/social-media-marketing)

[Content Marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/content-marketing)

[Brand Awareness](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/brand-awareness)

[Inbound Marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/inbound-marketing)

[SEO](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/seo)

[Advertising](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/advertising)

[Buyers Journey](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/buyers-journey)

[Marketing Automation](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-automation)

[Outbound Marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/outbound-marketing)

[Blogging](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/blogging)

[Marketing ROI](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-roi)

[Web Design & Development](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/web-design-development)

[Content](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/content)

[Content Strategy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/content-strategy)

[Marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing)

[Marketing Campaigns](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-campaigns)

[Target Audience](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/target-audience)

[Ad Campaign](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/ad-campaign)

[Buyers Persona](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/buyers-persona)

[Conversions](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/conversions)

[ROI](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/roi)

[SEO Strategy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/seo-strategy)

[Ads](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/ads)

[Blog Strategy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/blog-strategy)

[Consideration Stage](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/consideration-stage)

[Content Marketing Strategy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/content-marketing-strategy)

[Creative Development](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/creative-development)

[Decision Stage](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/decision-stage)

[Digital Marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/digital-marketing)

[Email Marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/email-marketing)

[Email Strategy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/email-strategy)

[Facebook Advertising](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/facebook-advertising)

[Generate Leads](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/generate-leads)

[Ideal Buyer](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/ideal-buyer)

[Lead Generation](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/lead-generation)

[Marketing Content](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-content)

[Marketing Data](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-data)

[Marketing Plan](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-plan)

[Marketing Review](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-review)

[Measuring Campaigns](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/measuring-campaigns)

[Mid-Year Marketing Review](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/mid-year-marketing-review)

[Nurture Leads](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/nurture-leads)

[Public Relations](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/public-relations)

[Sales and Marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/sales-and-marketing)

[Thought Leadership](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/thought-leadership)

[AB Testing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/ab-testing)

[AI marketing strategies](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/ai-marketing-strategies)

[Advertising trends 2026](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/advertising-trends-2026)

[B2B influencer](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/b2b-influencer)

[B2B marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/b2b-marketing)

[Best healthcare digital marketing agency](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/best-healthcare-digital-marketing-agency)

[Brand](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/brand)

[Brand Story](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/brand-story)

[Brand Strategy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/brand-strategy)

[Choosing a marketing agency for clean energy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/choosing-a-marketing-agency-for-clean-energy)

[Choosing a marketing firm](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/choosing-a-marketing-firm)

[Clean energy marketing partner](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/clean-energy-marketing-partner)

[Community bank marketing partner](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/community-bank-marketing-partner)

[Community financial marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/community-financial-marketing)

[Competitor Matrix](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/competitor-matrix)

[Consumer Marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/consumer-marketing)

[Content Calendar](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/content-calendar)

[Credit union marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/credit-union-marketing)

[Digital healthcare marketing agency](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/digital-healthcare-marketing-agency)

[E-book Content](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/e-book-content)

[E-book Design](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/e-book-design)

[E-book Marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/e-book-marketing)

[E-book Promotion](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/e-book-promotion)

[E-books](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/e-books)

[Editorial Calendar](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/editorial-calendar)

[Healthcare digital marketing experts](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/healthcare-digital-marketing-experts)

[Healthcare marketing agency](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/healthcare-marketing-agency)

[Increase patient volume](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/increase-patient-volume)

[Industrial seo strategy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/industrial-seo-strategy)

[Landing Page](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/landing-page)

[Lead Nurturing Workflow](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/lead-nurturing-workflow)

[Maritime digital marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/maritime-digital-marketing)

[Marketing Automation and AI](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-automation-and-ai)

[Marketing Emails](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-emails)

[Marketing agency for credit unions](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-agency-for-credit-unions)

[Marketing strategies for renewable energy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-strategies-for-renewable-energy)

[Mobile Optimization](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/mobile-optimization)

[Opt-In Emails](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/opt-in-emails)

[PPC](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/ppc)

[Paid Media](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/paid-media)

[Palmer healthcare marketing agency](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/palmer-healthcare-marketing-agency)

[Pay-Per-Click](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/pay-per-click)

[Port marketing strategy](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/port-marketing-strategy)

[Press](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/press)

[Renewable energy marketing agency](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/renewable-energy-marketing-agency)

[Reputation Management](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/reputation-management)

[Residential Solar](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/residential-solar)

[SEO Keywords](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/seo-keywords)

[SEO Optimization](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/seo-optimization)

[SERPs](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/serps)

[Search Engine Optimization](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/search-engine-optimization)

[Search Engine Results Pages](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/search-engine-results-pages)

[Search Engines](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/search-engines)

[Social Media](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/social-media)

[Social Proof](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/social-proof)

[Top healthcare marketing agency](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/top-healthcare-marketing-agency)

[User Engagement](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/user-engagement)

[Website Conversion](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/website-conversion)

[aeo geo agency selection criteria](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/aeo-geo-agency-selection-criteria)

[ai search optimization marketing agencies 2026](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/ai-search-optimization-marketing-agencies-2026)

[best marketing agency for small business](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/best-marketing-agency-for-small-business)

[influencer marketing](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/influencer-marketing)

[logistics industry branding agency](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/logistics-industry-branding-agency)

[marketing agency checklist](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/topic/marketing-agency-checklist)

**

[**](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.palmeradagency.com%2Fwere-ads-better-in-the-1960s) [**](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.palmeradagency.com/were-ads-better-in-the-1960s) [**](https://www.twitter.com/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.palmeradagency.com%2Fwere-ads-better-in-the-1960s)

## Were ads better in the 1960s?

**DATE PUBLISHED:** September 20, 2012  September 20, 2012

 

The ad breaks during the new series of Mad Men on Sky Atlantic featured commericals from the early 60s. So was it a golden age of advertising? And all because … were ads such as the series for Milk Tray better than those of today?

The breaks in the opening episode of Mad Men on Sky Atlantic were a nostalgiafest of 60s commercials, including the Milk Tray ads, in which a black-sweatered hero dives into ravines and jumps on to moving trains – "and all because the lady loves Milk Tray". Ooh, and there's Go To Work On an Egg (a slogan Fay Weldon has spent half a lifetime denying she dreamed up) featuring Tony Hancock and his virtuoso jowl movements. Ahh, and a young Lesley Ash being versed in the merits of mild green Fairy Liquid by Posh Mother – no doubt little Leslie will be washing dishes herself in the 80s, passing them to a robot to dry.

Were these "classics"? They certainly made a deep impression – some of these campaigns, like the Flake one, lasted decades. Of course, they carried some dubious messages about gender role-play and, despite wholesomely crooned jingles, could be insidiously, sexually implicit, such as the Doublemint gum ads, always featuring a pair of female twins – "double your pleasure, double your fun". They didn't always make sense. How could a Mars a day help you rest, as well as work and play?

They remind us not just of more innocent times but of an age of things – of chocolate, baked beans, Playtex girdles, deodorants, washing powders, instant mash, toothpaste, shampoo, Butlins. Aa bold, spangly, optimistic new post-ration book Britain of comestibles, detergents, undergarments and domestic holidays. Contrast them with today's ads, which reflect a world whose consumers spend every spare hour poring over price comparison websites, prompted by the unsubtle suggestions of meerkats and fat opera singers. Yesterday bad, today good? I think not. Go compare…

[Were ads better in the 1960s? | Media | The Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/shortcuts/2012/mar/28/were-ads-better-in-1960s).

### Did you like this article? Share it!

[**](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.palmeradagency.com%2Fwere-ads-better-in-the-1960s) [**](https://www.twitter.com/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.palmeradagency.com%2Fwere-ads-better-in-the-1960s) [**](https://www.instagram.com/palmeradagency/) [**](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.palmeradagency.com/were-ads-better-in-the-1960s)

![Featured text](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/content/email-template-images/placeholder_200x200.png "Featured text")

### Subscribe to our blog:

<https://blog.palmeradagency.com/how-to-choose-a-marketing-agency-in-2026-palmer-ad-agency>

[How to Choose a Marketing Agency in 2026 | Palmer Ad Agency](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/how-to-choose-a-marketing-agency-in-2026-palmer-ad-agency)

## **AI Summary**

This guide explains how businesses must evaluate and choose a marketing agency in the **2026 AI-driven search era**, where consumers rely on...

[ Read Details ](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/how-to-choose-a-marketing-agency-in-2026-palmer-ad-agency)

<https://blog.palmeradagency.com/strategic-branding-digital-marketing-gulf-port>

[Digital Marketing Strategy That Transformed a Gulf Port](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/strategic-branding-digital-marketing-gulf-port)

###  **AI Summary** 

 The Louisiana Gateway Port case study illustrates that in the modern maritime industry, physical infrastructure alone is no longer...

[ Read Details ](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/strategic-branding-digital-marketing-gulf-port)

<https://blog.palmeradagency.com/residential-solar-company-growth-strategy>

[How a Residential Solar Company Grew from $4M to $23M](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/residential-solar-company-growth-strategy)

Palmer Ad Agency helped a residential solar company grow from $4M to $23M by executing a data-driven go-to-market strategy focused on brand...

[ Read Details ](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/residential-solar-company-growth-strategy)

[Previous Post](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/blog/bid/245062/Using-Twitter-Effectively)

[Next Post](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/justin-krum-interview)

[![Group_2390](https://blog.palmeradagency.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group_2390.png?width=242&height=65&name=Group_2390.png "Group_2390")](https://palmeradagency.com/)

- <https://www.facebook.com/PalmerAdAgency/>
- <https://twitter.com/palmeradagency>
- <https://www.instagram.com/palmeradagency/>
- <https://www.linkedin.com/company/palmer-ad-agency/>

©2026 All Rights Reserved • Palmer Ad Agency [Privacy Policy](https://www.palmeradagency.com/privacy-policy)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "",
    "url" : "https://palmeradagency.com//author/palmer-ad-agency"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2019-04-10T23:07:34+0000",
  "datePublished" : "2012-09-20T17:22:00+0000",
  "description" : "",
  "headline" : "",
  "image" : [ "" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://blog.palmeradagency.com/were-ads-better-in-the-1960s",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/195545/Identity/Logos/Palmer%20Logos/Palmer%20Ad%20Agency%20%7C%20Grey%20Logo%20163x40.svg"
    },
    "name" : ""
  }
}
```

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BreadcrumbList",
  "itemListElement" : [ {
    "@type" : "ListItem",
    "item" : {
      "@id" : "https://palmeradagency.com/",
      "@type" : "WebPage",
      "name" : "Home"
    },
    "position" : 1
  }, {
    "@type" : "ListItem",
    "item" : {
      "@id" : "https://blog.palmeradagency.com/blog",
      "@type" : "WebPage",
      "name" : "Blog"
    },
    "position" : 2
  }, {
    "@type" : "ListItem",
    "item" : {
      "@id" : "https://blog.palmeradagency.com/were-ads-better-in-the-1960s",
      "@type" : "WebPage",
      "name" : "Were ads better in the 1960s?"
    },
    "position" : 3
  } ]
}
```