Thursday’s ad is for the Scottish brand Younger’s Tartan Special, from 1978, when, presumably the beer started to be imported to Argentina. I love the idea of a giant plaid boat, flying the Scottish flag. For some reason this ad reminded me of a scene in the Herman Raucher novel, “Summer of ’42,” where the main character, Hermie, is trying to buy a box of condoms and is thinking as he’s looking over the different packages that whatever color the box happens to be is also the same color as the condom itself. He sees a plaid box and thinks to himself, something along the lines of, “plaid, that’s enough to send a young girl screaming into the night!” It’s funny what sticks in your head. But the idea of a ginormous plaid boat would be quite a sight coming over the horizon.
It’s not because of export: Scotland qualified for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. The men on the boat are fans on their way to the tournament. Father William is wearing a supporters’ rosette and carrying a football rattle.
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up. While I love football now, in 1978 I barely knew what soccer was.