Wednesday’s ad is for a German pilsner, Becker, advertising in France. I have no idea when the ad is from, though 1970s is my guess based on the hat, the hair and the overt sexual overtones. It’s not exactly subtle. The ad copy, “Bière allemande de luxe,” translates as “German Luxury Beer.”
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser from presumably the late 1800s. The well-dressed woman holding a beer surrounded by flowers, or a garden, or something like that was a staple of beer advertising in that era. That’s some red dress.
Monday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale from 1947. It’s part of the series they did in the forties where they used dioramas and odd-looking clay figures in various settings. This one shows a group of 19th century dandies playing croquet in an idyllic park-like setting, most likely some rich estate.
Our 114th Guinness ad looks almost unfinished; more like a New Yorker cartoon than a polished ad. Showing a piano mover carrying not only the piano single-handedly, but also the piano player and his stool, he presumably he’s just enjoyed his bottle of “Guinness for Strength.”
Friday’s ad is yet another old one for Schlitz, this one from 1912, and is, like the last two, touting brown bottles as the best package for beer. I have to admire the effort to educate consumers to think about the package their beer came in, something craft brewers did again roughly 70 years later. And I love this bit of chutzpah. “As civilization advances — so do the sales of “Schlitz in Brown Bottles.”
Thursday’s ad is another old one for Schlitz, this one from 1911, and is, like yesterday’s, touting brown bottles as the best package for beer. They list a number of reasons why Schlitz is such a great beer, and some of the reasons are priceless:
And the ads final words are the same as yesterday’s, urging people to choose Schlitz because they know best. “If you knew what we know about beer, you would say ‘Schlitz—Schlitz in Brown Bottles.'”
Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz from 1912, and is touting brown bottles as the best package for beer. I don’t imagine UV light was as well understood a century ago, but Schlitz assures us that even then “chemists of this country as well have repeatedly warned against the possible dangers to purity following the use of light glass bottles.” And I love this gem. “Dark bottles only are used for beer in Germany and England.” Many? Undoubtedly. Most? Probably. Every brewery? Hmm, I’m sure someone can speak to the veracity of that claim, but I tend to think absolute claims are a bad idea. You can find an exception to almost anything. And I especially love their final words, urging people to choose Schlitz because they know best. “If you knew what we know about beer, you would say ‘Schlitz—Schlitz in Brown Bottles.'”
Tuesday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon from 1911. Showing an elaborately uniformed server pouring a PBR, you can see the bottles still have silver foil and have an actual blue ribbon attached to each bottle. Now that’s fancy. The angled shape of the label looks a lot like the same shape used by Miller High Life, though I have no idea who first used it. The text is priceless.
Monday’s ad is from a different time, 1940 to be exact. This Budweiser ad will have feminists tearing their hair out. The ad features a mock essay entitled Portrait of a Happy Husband, written by none other than A Smart Wife. The happy husband being portrayed is still in his suit (minus the jacket) but is wearing slippers, smoking his pipe while reading the paper, and with a beer on the table next to him for when he becomes parched. Some of her revelations are that his favorite appliance is the “icebox,” that he “prowls” for snacks and is happiest, not with her, but with friends, and won’t you please “drop by this evening” and save me from this hellish nightmare. I’ll have the Budweiser.
Our 113th Guinness ad has a different look to it. Showing a stylized turkey (or as one commenter suggests, possibly a goose) ready for eating, but curiously still alive, the tagline explains things. “My Goodness where’s the Guinness?” I guess he wants a drink before being eaten? I don’t think I’d be smiling.
