Shake ‘n Vac to Power Suits: How women’s roles in advertising changed through the decades

From doing the shake ‘n vac to suggestively eating a Flake chocolate, a new exhibition looks at advertising for, by and about women.

A century of advertising and product packaging fills the displays with nostalgia, some of which is too old for most of us to remember and some that’s so new that many of us will not have seen it before.

What the exhibition does, though, is use the displays to tell the changing story of how women were presented in advertising—starting mostly with domestic labour, though power-women taking control and self-improvement in the beauty section.

Quite a lot of domestic developments show advances in household goods, which reduced the labour needed to maintain a home and, in turn, emancipated women to seek out careers of their own. However, there is also the recent trend of returning to home baking as a hobby rather than a chore.

I will admit to sniggering with a modern eye at the bras branded “gay slant”, which would raise an eyebrow today with a very different meaning of the word.

There are few stories of some of the ad women who created the adverts, and the Women’s Advertising Club of London, and do look at the supper they were served at 10 Downing Street in 1987. The PM was not a gourmet.

Away from home, though, the changing advertising can also be seen in the ever-more-affordable consumer goods and how manufacturers target this new female customer base.

As an exhibition, it’s a fascinating look at one genre of the advertising industry and an exhibition assisted by a nostaligia-laden soundtrack from a long list of TV adverts ranging from 1956 to 2021. A small sign beside the TV screen lists the adverts in the loop.

The Museum of Brands’ temporary exhibitions are usually fairly small, but this is a large display that fills the whole room.

The exhibition, AdWomen is at the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in Ladbroke Grove until the end of April 2025.

Tickets for AdWomen are included in the general admission price for the museum.

  • Adult: £10
  • Children (7-16): £5.50
  • Concessions: £7.5
  • Family (2+2): £26

Note, an annual ticket costs £17, which is good value for money if you want to make repeat visits.