Mad Women explores the role women have played in the UK’s advertising industry over the past century

During the 1950s and 60s, most advertisements showed women in the kitchen or raising a family, while in the 70s and 80s, women were often portrayed as sex symbols or unattainable versions of perfection.

These days, brands and marketers take more responsibility to represent women in a modern and positive manner, but for an industry that has always prided itself in being ‘cutting edge’, that hasn’t always ben the case.

Advertising plays an important role in society and has the power to shape how we see each other.

But not only has there been an imbalance with how the advertising industry depicts women, the workplace in which the actual ads are produced has long been male-dominated and traditional.

Timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of WACL (Women in Advertising and Communications, Leadership), Mad Women explores the role women have played in the UK’s advertising industry over the past century.

From the creation of Shake ’n’ Vac and its unforgettable jingle to the Levi’s launderette TV commercial with Nick Kamen, and from the Flake girl in the bath to the bikini-clad women falling over men because of the Lynx effect, it tells the story of the pioneering women behind some of the nation’s most iconic adverts.

They describe the challenges they faced, including both blatant and subtle sexism, how they balanced work with their personal lives, and the often complicated routes they took in their careers.

We begin in late 1970s London – in a world evocative of US period drama Mad Men – where we meet those who broke into the industry and started to break down the stereotypes that had been in place for decades.

We see and hear about the ground-breaking adverts they engineered and the battles they had to endure to get them onto our screens.

In a world now unrecognisable from the days of Mad Men, we’ll also meet some of the most senior women working in the industry today to find out what’s left in the world of taboo breaking and what can we expect next from the current generation of Mad Women.

President of WACL Rania Robinson says: “Since WACL was created in 1923, by some incredible pioneering women, advertising has chronicled the changing role of women in society.

“But the battle for women to be equal contributors to all parts of the ad industry – and particularly the creative department – has been long and arduous.

“We’re not there yet but, in our 100th year, it’s good to celebrate how far we’ve come.”

Meanwhile, Caroline Davies, director of programmes at the programme’s creator South Shore, added: “We’re really proud to be shining a light on the women who created some of the most iconic moments in advertising history.”

Times have certainly changed since the 1970s and indeed the fictional world of Sterling Cooper in New York, run by John Hamm’s Donald Draper in Mad Men.

Hopefully this documentary will inspire and empower today’s generation of women even further and show that it is possible to have a successful and rewarding career in advertising now that it is a better-balanced industry.