“Bras are for men. Women want to see themselves the way men see them.” — Paul Kinsey

Looks like Maidenform went ahead and took Paul’s campaign! After all, it wasn’t doing much good wasting away in Playtex’s archives. The (real) 1960s ad on left bears a striking resemblance to the Jackie/Marilyn dynamic theme from the episode “Maidenform”.

Paul’s brilliant campaign resulted in a bit of a downer for Pegs — she realized she’s not a Jackie or a Marilyn. Someone meanly snickers she’s more of a Gertrude Stein, and Don compares her to Irene Dunne, but really what the girl is, is Katharine Hepburn. You know?

The Jackie/Marilyn (Madonna/whore) dichotomy has been around for much longer than the two women. I don’t know how Paul came up with such a thing (it’s Paul for God’s sake) but it plays very deeply into a part of the female psyche that has struggled with these two perceptions ever since we began talking about sex openly.

• footnote - by Natasha Simons

You can see why ad execs for Playtex might have gotten a bit nervous at Maidenform’s vibrant ad campaign, but, much like in the Mad Men episode “Maidenform”, they continued (and continue to this day!) making ads that emphasized the fit and make, rather than any sort of fancy show.

Just take a look at this gallery of 1960s ads from Maidenform/Playtex. It’s not hard to see that yes, definitely — Maidenform played into a much sexier ad slant. Check out the girl’s parted lips in the third pic! Playtex stuck to a much more informational stance, with women who were rather prim and proper, even with the not wearing many clothes thing.

• footnote - by Natasha Simons