Jay R. Brooks on Beer
Sunday’s ad is for “Budweiser,” from 1959. This ad was made for Anheuser-Busch, and was part of their series using the tagline. “Where there’s Life … there’s Bud,” which ran from the 1950s into the 1960s, and this one features a man by a tree with a fishing pole in one hand and a cigarette and a beer in the other. But I don’t see any fish, so you know what comes next? The text begins: “Fish Story”
Saturday’s ad is for “Budweiser,” from 1959. This ad was made for Anheuser-Busch, and was part of their series using the tagline. “Where there’s Life … there’s Bud,” which ran from the 1950s into the 1960s, and this one features a man apparently trying to fix something electronic … with a hammer. Not necessarily the best tool for delicate electronic part repairs. Luckily, a woman behind him comes to the rescue and is pouring him a beer. The text begins: “The King’s Credentials.”
Friday’s ad is for “Budweiser,” from 1958. This ad was made for Anheuser-Busch, and was part of their series using the tagline. “Where there’s Life … there’s Bud,” which ran from the 1950s into the 1960s, and this one features a woman lying on the floor, cigarette in hand, next to a speaker with her head practically on an LP. She watches as someone is pouring her a beer. The text begins: “Have You Heard.” The album by her head, unlike yesterday’s, is from Columbia and appears to be Serenade, by Sammy Kaye. I think they made another actual album of Budweiser music, using the same model and set from this ad, too. See below for more about that.
This appears to be an album cover although there’s no information on the cover apart from the Budweiser tagline. Given the LP depicted is on Columbia Records, I presume that’s who made this one, but I haven’t been able to find any additional information so I can’t be sure. But at least she managed to get off the floor.
Thursday’s ad is for “Budweiser,” from 1960. This ad was made for Anheuser-Busch, and was part of their series using the tagline. “Where there’s Life … there’s Bud,” which ran from the 1950s into the 1960s, and this one features a woman holding an RCA Victor LP record while a man is pouring her a beer. The text begins: “Special Lyrics.” But look just to the right of her head and you’ll see the cover of an album featuring the same photo from the ad. How meta! But that’s because they made an actual album of Budweiser music. See below for more about that.
LSP-2191 Living Stereo with the Miracle Surface, RCA Victor records. It was released in 1960 in conjunction with the ad. The band was the “Orchestra and Chorus, Conducted by Russ David. He was a pianist and bandleader from St. Louis, Missouri.
On the back cover: A Sampler of the ’58 sound of Budweiser.
Here’s the track list from the LP:
They also apparently produced a Mono version of the album, which you can actually buy on Amazon.
Wednesday’s ad is for “Budweiser,” from 1958. This ad was made for Anheuser-Busch, and was part of their series using the tagline. “Where there’s Life … there’s Bud,” which ran from the 1950s into the 1960s, and this one features a woman who apparently just heard someone pouring her a beer because she appears to have turned her very quickly to see what was going on behind her. Maybe he snuck up on her? Who knows, but the text begins: “Look!”
Tuesday’s ad is for “Budweiser,” from 1959. This ad was made for Anheuser-Busch, and was part of their series using the tagline. “Where there’s Life … there’s Bud,” which ran from the 1950s into the 1960s, and this one features a couple on what appears to be a hayride. Everyone on this ad has an odd expression. The man driving the horses looks like he’s yelling something, which makes sense because the text begins: “Whoa!” The man in the couple, who looks a little a young Burt Lancaster, has a weird smirk on his face and the woman, like most of these ads, seems way too interested in watching him pour the beer, which must not be easy to do in a moving hay cart.
Monday’s ad is for “Budweiser,” from 1959. This ad was made for Anheuser-Busch, and was part of their series using the tagline. “Where there’s Life … there’s Bud,” which ran from the 1950s into the 1960s, and this one features a couple having a beer somewhere in an Autumn forest, or least under a tree, as the man pours her a beer from a can. I know you can pour a beer with only one hole but at the time it seemed far more common that you’d use your church key — or can opener — to create two holes, one to pour and a second just a small puncture so the beer would flow far more smoothly. Or is that just me? Anyway, the text begins: “Think Of That!”
Sunday’s ad is for “Budweiser,” from 1958. This ad was made for Anheuser-Busch, and was part of their series using the tagline. “Where there’s Life … there’s Bud,” which ran from the 1950s into the 1960s, and this one features a woman having some difficulty putting up some godawful ugly wallpaper with some seemingly kind soul pouring her a beer. I say seemingly, because if he really wanted to be kind he’d be helping her with the wallpaper. The text begins: “Do It Yourself.”
Saturday’s ad is for “Budweiser,” from 1960. This poster was made for Anheuser-Busch, and was part of their series using the tagline. “Where there’s Life … there’s Bud,” which ran from the 1950s into the 1960s, and this one features a woman and several puppies. The text begins: “Count ’em.”
Fryday’s ad is for “Budweiser,” from 1961. This poster was made for Anheuser-Busch, and was part of their series using the tagline. “Where there’s Life … there’s Bud,” which ran from the 1950s into the 1960s, and within that campaign they did a sub-series featuring different bartenders in similar poses but with different copy. This one begins: “On the Barrel, Too?”
