A genius campaign ad idea from 1956: Let women speak for themselves

Last week, the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) released a set of six ads targeting young women who will vote in gubernatorial races this Election Day. The ads, which parody the hit reality TV show, Say Yes to the Dress, have been criticized for being patronizing and sexist.

Nearly half a century ago, however, the Republican Party put out some pretty solid ads aimed at women, like this one, produced in 1956 to support the re-election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower:

Yes, some of the assumptions are dated and the ad is too long for modern formats, but it gets one huge thing right: Its inclusion of apparently unscripted comments from actual women voters, who give real and thoughtful reasons they'd vote for Ike. As it turns out, they did vote for Ike — at a significantly higher rate than men.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Check out four other, shorter ads from 1956 here.