Introduction: a brief overview of the social situation in the 1970s The period of the 1970s was associated in the United States with substantial social and political reform, in particular with the introduction of truly equal rights and improvement of minorities’ image in the social consciousness and the transition of the American politics from the military to the more peaceful political course (Binkley, 2007, p.54; Carlisle & Golson, 2007 , p.18). The present paper is intended to discuss the relationship between contemporary ad design and promotion of social change. First of all, it is necessary to delineate the key social, political and cultural tendencies for which the 1970s in America were actually famous. First of all, the 1960s legacy of equality and anti-war movements was maintained and enriched in the 1970s, so that racial minorities, for instance received an opportunity called affirmative action, which encouraged employers to promote nom-white workers and gave minority students expanded access to education (Carroll, 1990, p.49; Szulz, 1974, p. 82). Furthermore, women were granted additional rights to control childbirth; moreover, the 1960s social struggle of women for equal treatment in occupational settings continued. Moreover, the perceptions of women’s physical identity were reconsidered: “The recognition that sex –and often sex alone – determined one’s identity came as a traumatic truth to American women – not only because the idea contradicted timeworn rhetoric about social equality“ (Carroll, 1990, p.24). Furthermore, in 1975, the 16-year Vietnam War came to its end, partly owing to the activism of the grassroot groups and to great extent due to the fact that the economy was drained and the society – exhausted – by the military conflict which seemed to bring no perceivable benefit. The new political challenges on which the government focused was balancing the growth of nuclear armament with the social protests against mass destruction weapon and the popularization of environment protection groups (Tropman, 1998, p.59). In the 1970s, the postwar baby boomers were growing, maturing into well-educated young people who had a broad range of professional opportunities, as opposed to their parents, as the 1970s young adults were 30% more likely to get at least college education (Carlisle & Golson, 2007 , p.64). Thus, the children, born in the postwar years, won their economic independence in the 1970s, and the main part of the popular culture was intended mainly for the numerous middle-class young adults aged 20-25. Thus, it enjoyed a diversification in terms of styles, genres, e.g., there appeared a variety of directions in music and fashion (Tropman, 1998, p.112; Rajvanshi, 2001, p.19). At the same time, these young people did not rash to create a traditional nuclear family, as their [parents did at age 20-25; moreover, the economic and social liberation of women to certain degree “undermined” family values: “A 1978 Gallup survey of teenage attitudes toward divorce found that two-third of the nation’s youth endorsed separation on grounds of incompatibility” (Carroll, 1990, p.278) Reflections of the social change in advertising The design of the contemporary adverti