What struck me most was that the happy part of the fairy tale was all up to her, and it included not only allowing herself to be objectified (staying slim not for health, but for her husband) but to be used (serving his needs - and unlike the family dog, not allowed on the furniture!)

Does anyone else hear a similarity to the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella? According to Wikipedia, Pepsi-Cola was a major sponsor of the original production, which also happened to be in 1957.

This is seriously creepy beyond being racist. Does anyone else get the sense that the dad is a wife-beater / child molester? The hired help are the only characters who don't fill up screen time with mindless distractions. Twisted message.

I kind of like your response, actually.  Just when I thought I had my mind made up, it made me question everything I'd just seen...and that's a good thing ;)

I find it amusing that Pepsi is thought of as slimming, when all evidence indicates that it's a major factor in weight gain in modern times, although the wording suggests that it might have been less sweet at that time.

I imagine there were some people in the late 50s who thought this was as much crap as I tend to see most commercial advertising now.