Grocery Ads Still Live in the 1950s

The hed on this Ad Age post is Survey Finds 51% of Men Are Primary Grocery Shoppers, but Few Believe Advertising Speaks to Them

Can I get an “amen?”

I find grocery ads actively off-putting. They project archaic gender roles that aren't much like the reality of our lives. All those smiling housewives serving juice or fretting over carpet odors. Who lives like that in 2011?

Even the retail experience at many stores is hostile to men. It encourages traversing the store in a front-to-back slog instead of a precision strike mission, and God help you if you forget something on aisle 1. Even the magazines at the checkout are unreadable. It's either People (at Krogers) or Yoga Today (at Whole Foods).

Warehouse stores and Trader Joes are awesome because they are no-nonsense: generic, basic, cheap. TJ's is especially good because of the limited selection, I don't have to waste effort choosing between eleven kinds of frozen peas.

There is a huge and growing ad market for basic household necessities: men. Get on this, ad people!