Friday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1934. The idea is eight months after prohibition ended, orders were coming in once more for Budweiser from all over the world. The half-dozen stereotypes sitting on the globe in national garb, each raising their beers with a traditional toast, represent six nations or cultures. Curiously, the American toast is “Here’s How.” That’s not a toast I’ve ever heard here, or anywhere for that matter.
Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1935. The Great Chicago Fire took place on October 8, 1871, or today 144 years ago. In this Schlitz ad from two years after prohibition ended, it shows an illustration of the “Great Chicago Fire,” stating that even before that event in 1871, “Schlitz was making Milwaukee famous.”
Wednesday’s ad is for Labatt’s Pilsener, from 1955. First of all, there’s a funny-looking moose sitting on a stump wearing boots and a flannel shirt. Beyond “The Swing Is Definitely To Labatt’s,” there are some gems in the copy for this ad. “When thirst has you by the horns, just call for a tall, cool glass of sparkling Labatt’s PILSENER,” and “the wonderful dryness of Pilsener makes any thirst vaMOOSE fast!” There’s also a pretty interesting claim toward the bottom of the ad. “The only beer in the world endorsed by brewmasters of seven other breweries.” I wonder which ones?
Tuesday’s ad is for O’Keefe, from 1958. “The Choice Is Yours!” reminds of the Blues Brothers movie, when the band plays at an old honky tonk, and the owner tells them what kind of music they feature. “We have both kinds of music: country and western.” In this case the choice is between “O’Keefe Old Stock Ale” and “O’Keefe Ale.” This first is “hearty and full-bodied” while the second is “smooth and light.” So they have both kinds.
Monday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from 1939. Tennis – Golf – Baseball. “Wherever there’s action — wherever people are doing things — you’ll find Miller Hight Life.” Are there any places where people aren’t doing things? But by far my favorite line is this sentence. “There’s a blithe lift to this sparkling, amber brew that puts it in time with action and fun.” Pure poetry.
Sunday’s ad is for Tiger Beer, from 1951. This ad from Asia Pacific Breweries is pretty simple, if a little odd, with the disembodied hand reaching through the wall with a full glass of beer.
Saturday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from 1949. I guess “distinctive” is certainly one of the words you could use to describe this scene, but to me she looks a little bit too much like Meryl Streep’s Mom if she had been in Terry Gilliam’s film “Brazil.” All she really needs is a shoe on her head to seal the deal, but I suppose that ginormous Rorschach-test brooch works just as well.
Friday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from, believe it or not 2011. It was an entry to a t-short contest, and was eventually offered as an iron-on. But it certainly looks older, and captures the spirit of Pabst’s earlier advertising nicely.
Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1968. This is at least the second ad I know about where Schlitz used the game Monopoly in one of their ads, which seems strange. I love how the card table really has nowhere to set down a beer glass without disrupting the game, not to mention how each of the four people is wearing a different couple, almost as if each of them was a playing piece, too. But best of all, the wife in green smirks as her husband in orange downs his glass of beer. The other man at the table, presumably the host, in red frowns with the knowledge that his wife in blue has just given him an errand to do, even though he’s already finished his beer, too. I predict they never finished this game.
Wednesday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1952. Part of Pabst’s long-running “What’ll You Have” series with the tagline spelled out on a checkers board. But at the bottom there’s a more interesting tagline. “Satisfy Your Thirst For Better Beer!”
