Wednesday’s ad is for Watney’s Dairymaid Stout, from what looks to be the 1970s, plus or minus. The first time I ever heard of Watney’s, probably like most Americans, was watching Monty Python, and their reference to “Bleedin’ Watney’s Red Barrel.” One interesting thing from the ad copy. It’s “the perfect mixer with most other beers.” I didn’t realize that was something people looked for in a beer. I also love the line at the bottom, mentioning another one of their stouts. “Watney’s Hammerton Stout: Brewed with Oatmeal & Glucose for Zest.” Yum, glucose. When was that a marketable ingredient?
1960s would be my guess: milk stout (which is what Dairymaid was, a rival to Mackeson) had pretty much gone by the 1970s.
The idea of glucose being good for giving you energy was a fixation of British advertising in the 1950s and 1960s from stout [a mass of glucose stout labels] to Mars Bars: a 1965 jingle for Mars Bars included the lines
“A Mars a day helps you work rest and play — because glucose and sugar, milk and chocolate are all in Mars!”
My guess is that the association of glucose and health springs from the glucose tablets soldiers were issued with during the Second World War,
I think you are probably correct late 60s early seventies as this was about the time they brought out the red barrell. Regarding the “mix with other beers” this drink was popular in the uk, and was known as a “black and tan” half dark stout and half pale ale. Their dark stout was a rival for Guinness but sweeter in taste
hence the addition of glucose to boost sugar levels and give you zest! These adverts like “guinness is good for you” and this one suggesting alcoholic drinks are good for your health are totally banned now.
It went well beyond the ’60s. My primary association for the word glucose is Lucozade ads from the ’80s. “Replaces lost energy” went the jingle. That was when Lucozade came from pharmacies in glass bottles wrapped in crinkly orange cellophane and was probably mainly pitched at people from World War Two.