Advertising in Popular Culture: Race, Gender, and Advertising in The Doris Day Show

Abstract

Advertising in Popular Culture articles provide an in-depth discussion of how a popular culture text, such as a television show, film, or short story, represents and reflects on advertising's place in society and culture. In this article, a group of scholars talk about "The Friend," a television episode from The Doris Day Show that aired on CBS on October 8, 1968. Panelists provide a close reading of the episode, discussing many topics: advertising and media around 1968; race, ethnicity, and gender in the 1960s and 1970s; race in advertising in the 1960s and 1970s; least objectionable programming; racial integration; inauthenticity and deception in advertising and media; and the power of advertising and media to solidify social norms and ways of thinking about gender, race, and ethnicity.