Friday’s ad is for is by the U.S. Brewers Association, from 1961. Beginning during World War II, the USBIF began a series of positive ads under the name “Morale is a Lot of Little Things” followed by an unnumbered series of illustrated ads that were a precursor to the numbered “Home Life in America,” the crown jewel of ads which ran from 1945 to 1956, also known as the Beer Belongs series. But they didn’t end there, and for a short time afterward, beginning in 1956, several more similar ads were created but without the numbering or the “Home Life in America” association. Shortly thereafter, the ads continued to use thematic elements from the earlier ads, but they became more conventional, using photographs instead of art.
In this ad, entitled “who says beer is a man’s beverage?,” the scene is two women sitting in a kitchen, talking and sharing a beer together. To answer the question, the ad copy says that men say beer is for men, but try to counter that stereotype and insist beer is perfect for women, too — which it is, of course — and then reassuring men that there will be enough to go around and that you won’t run out if women drink beer, too.
