The good old days of Yugoslavian technology magazine Racunari – where the only thing more exciting than the latest computer hardware, was the sultry models posing with them.
Yes, that’s right folks, back in the 70s and 80s, computer advertisements in Racunari magazine were not just about the specs and features, but also about the sex appeal. Because, let’s be real, what’s a better way to sell a computer than by suggesting that owning one will make you irresistible to the opposite sex?
These vintage ads were a true work of art, featuring women in suggestive poses, sometimes in clothing that would make today’s social media censors have a field day, and with the computer hardware or software prominently displayed. It was almost as if the ad creators were saying “hey, buy this computer, and you’ll be able to seduce the ladies in no time.”
It’s hilarious to look back at these advertisements now and see how ridiculous they were, but it’s also a reminder of how far advertising has come in terms of representation and objectification.
Mom says it’s my turn to repost this next week.
Why is #18 tied up lol
nice racunari
Back when marketing actually understood where the target demographic was…
Silicone Siren is trying to bring this aesthetic back.
With a hint of black and orange…
Perhaps you meant Silicon Siren?
Back before people realized how sexist it was, and how it created a hostile environment for women, making them reluctant to enter the field of computer technology.
It’s systemic and endemic. I still remember when Violet Blue (Wendy Sullivan) tweeted a pic of a woman sitting in a booth at a trade show and snarked “World’s Saddest Booth Babe.” The woman in the picture turned out to be the software developer, it was HER booth. The public backlash against VB was intense.
This is how we got a business full of sexist assholes like Richard Stallman defending Jeffrey Epstein’s “funding” of the MIT Media Lab.
These covers were considered sexist (or at least not in good taste) even back in the 80s. This was the least popular of several Yu computer mags, cheap cover tricks didn’t help much. Especially since back then pretty much every magazine had women on covers. So having ever more women wouldn’t help the visibility one bit.
OTOH, put an Amiga 2000 on the cover, and now we’re talking sexy…
Well, actually… women are people, and people recognized it was sexist.
Was it MaximumPC who did similar in the late ’90s, early ’00s? I seem to recall it being Maxim for nerds. Had hot chicks and game and hardware reviews and over clocking experiments and ads for thinkgeek products and BAWLS.
It also had a lot of easier to digest information about PC performance. I used it to research the purchase my very first PC- a Gateway G6-400. But there was a reason I chose it off the rack as opposed to another magazine.