Budweiser


Wednesday’s ad is another one for Budweiser, though this one’s a little older than yesterday’s, most likely from the late 1950s or early 1960s. It’s from Budweiser’s long-running “Where There’s Life” series of ads. The ad features a couple on the beach, and even though its night their faces still look shiny with sweat, or maybe that’s just the glow of the fire that makes them look like that. Either way, hopefully those weenies will be done soon.

bud-beach-picnic

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Beer In Ads #537: Bud’s Label Conscious

by Jay Brooks on February 7, 2012 · 0 comments

in Art & Beer,Beers


Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from not too long ago: 1987. And while I don’t normally feature the overtly sexist ads, this one is too classic to ignore. This, and variations on it, were nearly ubiquitous in the late 1980s. I recall seeing them everywhere. I still think it’s a fairly clever ad, even with the titillation. One thing that sticks out now, just 25 years later, is what they’re listenging to and reading. If the ad was done today, they’d be using an iPod and reading on a Kindle or iPad.

bud-label-conscious-1987

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Tuesday’s ad is another one for Budweiser, also from 1964 and again withe tagline “that Bud… that’s beer!” In this one, a man with a goofy-looking expression is holding a bottle of beer at a party, and appears to be drinking it straight from the bottle.

images64budweiser

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Monday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1964. The ad features a fisherman holding a flat-top can, with his rod over his shoulder and flies stuck into his cap. But it’s really the copy that stands out in this ad, staring with the tagline “that Bud… that’s beer!” But look to the left, here’s a gem. “Is there any real difference in the way beers are brewed? Sure, and one is brewed to be the King of Beers.” Sure? Well, that sure tells us a lot about how Bud was brewed differently from every other similar-tasting American lager in 1964. Nice.

images64budflattop

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Beer In Ads #523: Bowling Night

by Jay Brooks on January 18, 2012 · 2 comments

in Art & Beer,Beers


Wednesday’s ad is another one for Budweiser, this time from 1962. Showing a half-dozen men of varying ages out for a night of bowling — league night, no doubt — and also drinking a few beers “between frames.” It seems likes everybody was in a bowling league in the 1950s through the 1970s. My Mom was, I was as a kid. It was always fun. I also had a girlfriend briefly in high school who loved bowling — she was on the school’s team — and so spent a lot of time bowling with her, too.

There was a book a few years ago, Bowling Alone, that was all about how people no longer go out and do things in their community, instead just stay in and watch TV. It used the popularity of bowling and its recent slide as a metaphor for the collapse of the American community. It was an interesting idea, I only read part of it, but liked what I read. Hmm, I think I need to go bowling again, and soon.

images62budbowling

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Beer In Ads #522: Have A Glass

by Jay Brooks on January 18, 2012 · 1 comment

in Art & Beer,Beers


Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1961. The very-red ad shows a greasy-haired bartender in uniform, handing you a glass of Budweiser. There’s a bowl of popcorn on the bar and a Bud lamp on the wall behind. The ad is part of A-B’s long-running “where there’s life … there’s Bud” campaign, showing their beer in a variety of settings. One thing I’m starting to notice is how unusual the glassware is in so many of the ads of this time period. I’m so used to the ubiquitous pint or shaker glass, but I can’t say when it became the standard bar glass. I spent a lot of time in bars as a kid in the late 1960s and 1970s (I had an alcoholic stepfather) and I can’t say I remember there being much in the way of unusual glassware, though I was young and not paying that close attention, so there’s that to consider.

61budweiserbeer

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Beer In Ads #516: Next Time You’re Drinking Beer, Look At The Label

January 9, 2012

Monday’s ad is for Budwesier, from 1957, from their “Where’s there’s Life … there’s Bud!” series. Showing a couple presumably making dinner as the wife tosses a salad while her husband pours the beer, which she appears to find far more interesting than the salad. But what I really love is the ad copy in [...]

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Beer In Ads #513: When You Know Your Beer

January 4, 2012

Wednesday’s ad is another one for Budweiser, from 1953. “When you know your beer …” you’ll grin like an idiot? No, “it’s bound to Bud,” at least according to the ad copy. But seriously, that guy looks way too happy.

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Beer In Ads #512: Budweiser Fishing Trip

January 3, 2012

Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1950. Part of there series of “There’s nothing like it” ads, this one shows a couple on a fishing trip, by canoe, stopping for a picnic lunch. Their lunch, including the cans of Budweiser were in a cool-looking red metal Budweiser cooler.

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Beer In Ads #490: Budweiser’s Beach Weenie Roast

December 2, 2011

Friday’s ad is for Budweiser, from their “Where there’s life …” series, probably from the 1950s or early 60s. The scene shows a smiling and way-too-shiny-faced couple on the beach, having a weenie roast, while the woman pours a can of Bud into an already full mug.

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Beer In Ads #488: The Ladies Home Journal Endorses Beer As Opposed To Patent Medicines

November 30, 2011

Wednesday’s ad is a Ladies Home Journal (LHJ) ad from 1904 for Budweiser. It’s an interesting ad. First of all, check out the cage and cork on a Bud bottle. That’s not something you see every day. And the endorsement by LHJ is priceless. Can you imagine this today? Mr. Edward Bok, editor of the [...]

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Beer In Ads #484: America’s Earliest Thanksgiving … Was For Corn

November 24, 2011

Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day ad is for Budweiser. I’m not sure when the ad originally ran, but clearly it’s from a time when sensitivities toward Native Americans weren’t particularly keen. That’s based on the ad copy, which after the headline — “America’s Earliest Thanksgiving … Was For Corn” — is the following: With joyous chants and [...]

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Beer In Ads #470: Smart Way To Buy Bud …

November 4, 2011

Friday’s ad is a 1960 ad for Budweiser cans, showing the “Smart way to buy Bud … Pick a Pair.” The ads shows a housewife, oddly backlit, picking up a six-pack of Bud cans.

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Beer In Ads #468: I See You Have Excellent Taste

November 2, 2011

Wednesday’s ad is a pre-war 1937 ad for Budweiser. A stylized pin-up fortune teller is peering into her crystal ball containing a crystal beer. Seeing the Budweiser, she declares “I see you have excellent taste.” See, I knew those fortune tellers were fakes.

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Beer In Ads #465: Fans Who Know …

October 28, 2011

Friday’s ad, in honor of the St. Louis Cardinal’s world series victory earlier tonight, is a Budweiser ad that appeared on the Cardinals scorecard in 1954. With the tagline “Fans Who KNow … Buy Bud,” the scene is a baseball game in the late 1800s. I love the block of ice sitting on top of [...]

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Beer In Ads #451: Where There’s Life … There’s Bridge

October 10, 2011

Monday’s ad is from 1957, and is for Budweiser, from their “Where There’s Life … There’s Bud” series. The woman playing cards has at least a king of hearts but she’s more interested in watching the beer being poured over her Ray-Bans to worry about concealing her cards. It is a nice looking pour, but [...]

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