Thursday’s ad is for Carlsberg, from 1897. Apparently they had hipsters as far back as the late 19th century with that chapeau, the flowing mustache, closely manicured beard and the baby blue ascot. Above that mug of beer he’s holding, the text translates roughly to “‘Old’ it is good! Give strength and courage,” whatever that means. I expect that’s not quite the sense of what it’s trying to say. But he looks so happy that he’s making me thirsty.
Wednesday’s ad is for Carlsberg, from 1904. A train has stopped at a station, and all of the men clamored to the windows, as a waiter runs up carrying a tray full of Carlsberg bottles. The guys on the train look as if they’re being saved from some horrific trip. Could their train ride really be that bad?
Tuesday’s ad is for Carlsberg, from 1990. although it’s meant to look as if it was from closer to 1900. It shows an idyllic outdoor cafe scene of a well-dressed couple ordering beer, specifically Carlsberg Pilsner, which apparently is “the ideal of pilsner beer.”
Monday’s ad is for Carlsberg, from sometime after 1889. It’s for their “new Carlsberg Export beer.” In the detailed illustration, a Danish ship is moored in what looks like an African coast. Cases of Carlsberg are being off-loaded by hand and then attached to elephants. I hope they get them chilled down soon, because that heat can’t be good for the beer. I wonder where they’re heading after they leave the beach?
Sunday’s ad is for Carlsberg, from 1910. The ad appears to show two well-dressed couples celebrating something, perhaps being on a ship bound for France? They certainly seem to be aboard a ship based on the view out the window, so maybe that’s the grand prize the ad’s referring to, a trip to Paris and all the beer you can drink.
Saturday’s ad is for Carlsberg, from 1952. The ad shows a stylized man downing a bottle of Carlsberg. His right arm holding the bottle is crooked into the shape of a Carlsberg “C” and his head, too, seems bent into a “C.” It was done by a Danish poster artist, Henn Nielsen, and it definitely has a fifties look to it. I love how the man is staring out with one eye at the viewer, and seems to be smirking at us.
Friday’s ad is for New Carlsberg Beers, or “Ny Carlsberg ølsorter,” from 1889, I guess. It’s hard to believe this is the 2000th beer ad I’ve posted, which means it’s been nearly five-and-a-half years since I started posting them, and that doesn’t even count the Guinness ads I posted separately for a time, plus all of the random unnumbered ones, too. This is without a doubt one of the most beautiful ads I’ve seen, showing a detailed view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower, presumably in 1889. There was a World’s Fair, or Exposition Universelle, in Paris that year, and the Eiffel Tower was built specifically for the expo. The poster also says “Grand Prix,” but at least according to Wikipedia, Heineken won the grand prize (and their source was a Heineken webpage that’s no longer up) so who knows. But the poster makes it seem like it was an amazing event.
Thursday’s ad is for Carlsberg Pilsner, though I’m not sure of the exact date. It could be as old as the 1890s, but it could also be a little later, possibly into the 1930s. Although the label, though hard to see, looks like it could be more modern so it could even be a more recent ad designed to look like it came from an older time. Either way, it’s a beautiful ad, and is reminiscent of Alphonse Mucha. Showing the four seasons of beer drinking, the tagline translates to “drink year round.” The four words below each season translate, via Google translate, to “easy, mild, tasty, and durable,” but I’m willing to bet that’s not exactly right. The artist’s name is in the lower left corner, but it’s written in a stylized lettering, and is hard to make out, something like Carten Raunt. But it’s a beautiful ad.
Wednesday’s ad is for Carlsberg Hof, from the 1980s. Apparently the Carlsberg Hof Dog was a popular character in Denmark in the 1980s. He certainly looks like an amiable chap, with his impish wink. “Herligt med en HOF” translates as “Lovely with a Hof,” which is Carlsberg’s pilsner.
Tuesday’s ad is for Carlsberg, from what looks to be about the late 1940s or 1950s. But despite that post-war look, the ad was actually done in July 1990. They look so happy, and so staged. Still, I’d join them.
