One of the funnest, bestest things about Mad Men-era mag ads is the narrative thrust to the sales pitches. It wasn’t enough to just show a smiling EveryGirl and throw up an evocative/emotive catchphrase.
No sirree! You needed to ’splain things with a proper setup. The formula changes a bit, but here’s the jist of it, illustrated by the ad below:
1.) Girl/woman is made to feel shameful about some totally natural and usually biologically determined feature, like her period or, in this case, her big hair.
2.) She expresses said shame to an expert, who recommends an appropriate space age remedy. Science to the rescue!
3.) Girl/woman returns to the scene of original shaming to find that she’s! now! socially! acceptable!
4.) Much older daddy figure squires her away.
What’s not explained here is that when Daddy finally carts Mrs. Hayhead to their makeshift newlybed (in this case, the very romantic backseat of the “Haywagon”) he’s rather shocked that her locks don’t hold their lustre very long.
Hey wait a minute! Doesn’t Mrs. Hayhead’s hair look just like it did before? Ohhhhhhhh.
BTW - Thanks, Ad*Access!