1952 · Food
Jell-O
Now's the Time for Jell-O
By 1952 Jell-O, owned by General Foods and long billed as 'America's Most Famous Dessert,' was working to widen its audience beyond housewives. This ad stages cartoon cowboys holding up the icebox, with copy joking that 'out in the kitchen where men are men, a cowboy's best friend is a shimmering dish of Jell-O.' The humor disarms the gendered association: framing dessert as something even rugged Western men crave broadens who is allowed to want it.
