Ginzburg's achievement in writing The Advertisement was honored with the international Marzotto Prize, which she was awarded in 1968. However, Ginzburg has been more widely recognized for her fiction, autobiographical novel, and nonfiction essays than for her dramatic writings. Only one of her ten plays has been translated into English.

Critics of The Advertisement focus on its feminist perspective, exploring the experiences of women in marriage and family in the historical context of a rapidly changing modern society. In the introduction to Plays by and about Women, in which The Advertisement is published in English translation, Victoria Sullivan and James Hatch focus on the character of Teresa as an example of the plight of women in modern society. They describe The Advertisement as a "frightening portrait of female limitation," for "her long-winded, egocentric monologues say something about the female state." Sullivan and Hatch comment that, "Having been...