March is Women’s History Month, and companies are giving shoutouts to the women who make their products great.
Barbie is making dolls in the likeness of some of the most notable women in history. Miller Lite is collecting old sexist print ads and posters, literally grinding them into worm food, and then using the worm food to make fertilizer to grow hops for women brewers. Bose is bringing to light that less than 3% of popular songs over the past decade were produced by women.
And Ford is pointing out just how sh—tty a car would be without a woman’s brain with a hilarious and satirical ad showcasing a “Men’s Only Edition” model.
Ford showcased a new Ford Explorer model that is made just for men because it’s made up of only parts created by men. This means the car is missing many crucial vehicle parts and features developed by women in the auto industry.
That includes everything from car heaters which were invented by Margaret Wilcox in 1893 when she figured out to pipe heated air from the engine bay into the cabin to windshield wipers which were also invented by a woman.
Dr. Gladys West contributed in programming an IBM 7030 ‘Stretch’ computer to deliver “increasingly refined calculations for an extremely accurate geodetic Earth model, a geoid, optimized for what ultimately became the Global Positioning System (GPS) orbit.”
Alabama native Mary Anderson patented a manually operated windshield wiper in 1903. Before that, a handle inside the car would operate a wiper to clear snow and rain from the windshield.
Oh, and actress and inventor Florence Lawrence invented turn signals with arms that would raise and lower from the rear fenders.
Dorothy Levitt, British racing driver and journalist, contributed to the invention of the rearview mirror, as she would hold up a mirror over the dashboard while driving to see behind her and it ended up catching on. Only a woman would think of something so clever!
“Introducing the Ford Explorer® Men’s Only Edition. That’s right — we’ve removed more than 100 years of women’s contributions,” the major auto maker’s Instagram caption reads.
The narration for the commercial — done by none other than actor Bryan Cranston — highlights just how horrible a car would be if men were behind the entire design.
“This women’s history month, Ford salutes the visionary automotive work by women past, present, and future,” the ad concludes.
So, the next time you’re stuck driving in a rainstorm, need to look in the backseat to see what your toddler is up to, or get directions to the doctor’s office — you can thank a woman.
