The Consumer Isnt A Moron She

From Confessions of an Advertising Man (1963), Chapter 5. Ogilvy was pushing back against the condescending tendency of advertisers to write copy as if consumers were naive. The specific phrasing — "she is your wife" — was meant as a concrete imaginative test: would you try to manipulate or talk down to a member of your own household? Ogilvy believed treating consumers as intelligent adults produced better advertising and better sales.