While I don’t put any stock in astrology, in 1980 Guinness put out a calendar with each month representing one of the zodiac signs, and I thought it would be fun to share these throughout the year.
Taurus, the bull, is from May 21-June 21. To learn more, see:
Our 69th Guinness ad is a fairly simple one, showing a half-empty pint of Guinness and the slogan “Life Is Brighter After Guinness” in large letters followed by the more familiar “Guinness is Good For You” in smaller print below that.
Friday’s ad is for a French brewery, Brasserie De Sochaux, which closed in 1979. It looks late 19th century, but who knows. I’m not seeing the old gray-haired dude in the military (or bellhop?) uniform as making me want to drink their beer. Plus, it just seems too busy.
Thursday’s ad may in fact not actually be an ad. It could just as easily be sheet music or the Playbill from a show. But the “Prince of Pilsen” sounds like a great title for a musical. I wonder why the woman on the left is dressed like the United States?
Wednesday’s ad is another recent one for the Brazilian beer, Nova Schin, and it’s a very odd one. It’s apparently for Fashion Week in Sao Paulo, but to me it just comes off as a little creepy. Of course, I have no sense of fashion, so it’s probably me.
There’s at least two more ads in the Fashion Week series, but they don’t help make it any less odd of an ad campaign.
Talk about mixed mythologies, Tuesday’s ad is another recent one for the Brazilian beer, Brahma. Showing Rio de Janeiro’s “Christ the Redeemer” statue in another frenetic, colorful ad for Brahma, who before it was beer, was the Hindu god of creation, I found a little odd. Perhaps that’s just me.
Monday’s ad is for the popular Brazilian beer, Brahma, because around Noon today, I touched down in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where I’ll be for the next three days. It’s a newer ad, but I love the frenetic illustration and the bold colors. It also makes me want to drink a Brahma … almost.
This week’s work of art is by an artist from Argentina, Carlos Morel. I saw the original in Buenos Aires at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. The painting is known as Payada en Una Pulperia or Duel in the Taproom and was created in 1840.
The duel depicted in the painting is of the musical variety, with two guitar players squaring off against one another to the general merriment of all the people drinking in the taproom.
Morel is considered to be Argentina’s first great painter. He was born in Buenos Airies in 1813 and lived until 1894, painting a great number of watercolors and oil paintings throughout his career. Here’s a translated biography
Our 68th Guinness ad is an another odd one, the second from a time when sensitivities toward Native Americans weren’t particularly high. Using for a second time the cringeworthy tagline “— Him Strong,” this one shows not the iconic Toucan but a smiling group of Native Americans sitting in a canoe being held up by, presumably, the chief, who has a bottle of Guinness tucked into his pouch.
And here’s a second ad of the same scene, but from a different angle.
Friday’s ad is the last for Quilmes, from 1968, and it certainly looks like quite a party. Love the hairstyles.
