Can you believe that Ford actually created a convertible in the 1950s with a system that was so easy to use even a woman could operate it? No, kidding, an honest to goodness woman. Anyway, that's the premise of this retro commercial featuring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz of I Love Lucy. Apparently women didn't develop the basic motor skills needed to push a button until the latter half of the 20th century. You gotta love the whole atavistic vibe of the ad, from Ricky telling Lucy she's better suited to taking ice cubes out of the freezer to the salesman only addressing Ricky and not even acknowledging Lucy. Check out the clip after the jump.Lucy in a Ford
Can you believe that Ford actually created a convertible in the 1950s with a system that was so easy to use even a woman could operate it? No, kidding, an honest to goodness woman. Anyway, that's the premise of this retro commercial featuring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz of I Love Lucy. Apparently women didn't develop the basic motor skills needed to push a button until the latter half of the 20th century. You gotta love the whole atavistic vibe of the ad, from Ricky telling Lucy she's better suited to taking ice cubes out of the freezer to the salesman only addressing Ricky and not even acknowledging Lucy. Check out the clip after the jump.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-24-2006 @ 1:25PM
Elliott said...
So are we upset that Ford was once horribly sexist and has since went on to become a trendsetter for corporate diversity, or at Lucille Ball for being a total sellout and playing her dumb homemaker routine to ad (literally) nauseam?
Can Kim Cattrall be reached for comment?
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7-24-2006 @ 6:12PM
Brent McKee said...
Actually it's not the salesman or Ford who are being sexist to Lucy, it's Ricky/Desi. A car is a man's thing and his Cuban machismo won't let him acknowledge that this could be simple enough for a woman, let alone Lucy (remember this is a woman who doesn't know how much rice to use to make a simple dish like Arroz con Pollo or how much yeast to put in a loaf of bread). As for the salesman, HE knows that while Lucy might like the car it's Desi/Ricky who is going to by it because of the gimmick of the retractable hard top. (Unfortunately for Ford, too few husbands were sucked in by the expensive and complicated gimmick - sales on that model bombed and it's only now that we're seeinng a revival in the manufacture of hardtop convertible coming from Mercedes and BMW.)
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7-25-2006 @ 6:06PM
SenorWeird said...
I'd just like to point out to Brent that the amount of rice for Arroz con Pollo was a plot point of "Job Switching," an episode where Fred and Ricky take up hte domestic chores while Lucy and Ethel go to work. In fact, it is RICKY who does not know how much rice to use. He figures a pound a person.
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