Thursday’s ad is from 1940 and is for Budweiser. The ad’s tagline is “Their Hero Arrives on the Next Bus,” and shows two young children standing by a fence eagerly awaiting the arrival of their “daddy” home from work. Read the ad copy on this one, it’s pretty hilarious. And check out at the bottom their “Make This Test” in the center box. “Drink Budweiser for five days. On the sixth day, try to drink a sweet beer. You will want Budweiser’s flavor thereafter.” Or maybe not.
Wow, who was the target audience for that ad? Seems like it was a woman’s magazine trying to convince Mom to pick up some Bud for the old man — as if he wouldn’t notice that it replaced his usual Blatz, Iron City or Sterling.
As for the flavor of Budweiser back in the day — I’m sure it was a lot different than it is now. AB admitted tweaking the formula over the years — increasing “drinkability” by reducing the presence of the hops since the 70’s.
In fact, there are batches of Bud cryogenically frozen at their St. Louis plant that date back decades. Occasionally, a few a thawed from different eras to help determine what further adjustments are to be made.