The Soviet Union in American Advertising: How the United States Portrayed Its Main Enemy

What did America think about the late USSR? In the 1980s and 90s, advertisers in the United States often used stereotypes about Soviet society in their commercials. Americans of that era knew little about Soviet life - all information was drawn from films about spies and was built on very hackneyed cliches. Author blog "Levik" has collected several striking examples of commercials about the Soviet Union, filmed in the United States.

1. Wendy's fast food restaurant chain trying to convince consumers that it is better than the competition. In their video, they emphasize the advantages of choice through the example of “Soviet fashion show”. After all, everyone knows that there were no fashions in the Soviet Union, all its citizens wore military uniforms or gray robes ...

2. Wendy's again. This is already 1988. The USSR national team is offered to choose between two burgers. They are clearly not averse to trying option “A”, but the accompanying “citizen in civilian clothes” persistently insists on burger “B” - because “… it reminds them of the hamburger that they like to eat in their homeland!”

3. Chips Doritos "ate" the Congress of the CPSUby advertising their “revolutionary” new foods made with less oil. It's already 1990, and advertisers have found a Russian-speaking actor for the role of the general secretary. And there is also a play on words with the English “party”, which simultaneously means “party” and “party”.

4. In 1986, Meister Brau advertised its “expensive taste at a low price”. In this video, the heads of the embassy in Washington learn that "Comrade Petrenko" has been saving on beer purchases for a long time and sawing beer budgets. Meanwhile, Petrenko himself is preparing to buy “... an expensive American car with tail fins" ... Please note that “Comrade Petrenko” in the video was played by Savely Kramarov, the star of the films “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession” and “Gentlemen of Fortune”. He emigrated to the United States in 1981.

5. It's already 1997, so it's not really about the USSR. Moviefone let clients know what is shown in local cinemas. To do this, you just had to call the automated system by phone. In this ad, the overly tragic style of cinema in the former Soviet Union is played up on the example of a film from Kazakhstan (even though it says “Mosfilm” in the frame) called “Look at my potato”.