Saturday’s ad is for Michelob, one of the brands created by Anheuser-Busch as a draft-only beer in 1896. It was first packaged in 1961, and its distinctive teardrop bottle won a design award the following year. But that was replaced in 1967 “for efficiency in the production line,” but reverted to a traditional bottle in 2002. This ad is from 1967, and features a simple bottle and full mug of beer with their new tagline, possibly introducing it, “In Beer, Going First Class Is Michelob. Period.”
Friday’s ad is for Michelob, one of the brands created by Anheuser-Busch as a draft-only beer in 1896. It was first packaged in 1961, and its distinctive teardrop bottle won a design award the following year. But that was replaced in 1967 “for efficiency in the production line,” but reverted to a traditional bottle in 2002. This ad is from 1973, and features another one of those magic bottles. Notice that the 12-oz. bottle of Michelob is only half full but the mug is completely full. A lot of ads during this time period employed this weird tactic, as if you can fill two glasses of beer with one bottle. Next to the beer is a golf tee and a scorecard, along with a bouncing golf ball. Curiously, this is a transitional ad. The first shoes the “Surprise Me” tagline which was employed for a few years, roughly from 1970-1973. Michelob then switched campaigns and began using the tagline “In beer, going first class is MICHELOB Period.” As you can see, they used the same art in these two ads, used the same year, but switched the taglines.
“In beer, going first class is MICHELOB Period.”
Thursday’s ad is for Michelob, one of the brands created by Anheuser-Busch as a draft-only beer in 1896. It was first packaged in 1961, and its distinctive teardrop bottle won a design award the following year. But that was replaced in 1967 “for efficiency in the production line,” but reverted to a traditional bottle in 2002. This ad is from 1971, and features an unseen hand putting a second six-pack of Michelob into his shopping cart. It’s interesting that there’s nothing else in the cart, not even some potato chips, pretzels or another snack?
Today is the birthday of American poet, novelist, and short story writer Charles Bukowski (August 16, 1920-March 9, 1994). Bukowski was a hard-living individual, as well as a hard drinker. Wikipedia gives a summary of his life, albeit a very brief one.
His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles. His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over 60 books. The FBI kept a file on him as a result of his column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, in the LA underground newspaper Open City.
In 1986 Time called Bukowski a “laureate of American lowlife.” Regarding Bukowski’s enduring popular appeal, Adam Kirsch of The New Yorker wrote, “the secret of Bukowski’s appeal. . . [is that] he combines the confessional poet’s promise of intimacy with the larger-than-life aplomb of a pulp-fiction hero.”
If you haven’t read his work, you’re definitely missing out. I think my favorite quote by him is from an interview he did in Life magazine, in December of 1988. “We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” A collection of his poems, entitled “Love Is a Dog From Hell,” was published in 1977, and includes the poem “Beer.” A few months ago, an Italian animation studio, NERDO, created a short animated film of that poem, and it’s pretty awesome.
Wednesday’s ad is for Michelob, one of the brands created by Anheuser-Busch as a draft-only beer in 1896. It was first packaged in 1961, and its distinctive teardrop bottle won a design award the following year. But that was replaced in 1967 “for efficiency in the production line,” but reverted to a traditional bottle in 2002. This ad is from 1971, and features a can and mug of Michelob next to a grill cooking barbecues spareribs. This ad is actually a page-and-a-half, with a half-page portion that’s unfolded to reveal the whole ad, though I’m not sure what’s on the other side.
Tuesday’s ad is for Michelob, one of the brands created by Anheuser-Busch as a draft-only beer in 1896. It was first packaged in 1961, and its distinctive teardrop bottle won a design award the following year. But that was replaced in 1967 “for efficiency in the production line,” but reverted to a traditional bottle in 2002. This ad is from 1970, and features a bottle and mug of Michelob next to a plate containing a hamburger and a few chips. What could be more unexpected than a hamburger and a beer?
Monday’s ad is for Michelob, one of the brands created by Anheuser-Busch as a draft-only beer in 1896. It was first packaged in 1961, and its distinctive teardrop bottle won a design award the following year. But that was replaced in 1967 “for efficiency in the production line,” but reverted to a traditional bottle in 2002. This ad is from 1970, and features three cans of Michelob caught in a fishing net, with one of the beers poured into a mug. I think there’s a lure next to the net, possibly the one used to catch the beer.
Sunday’s ad is for Michelob, one of the brands created by Anheuser-Busch as a draft-only beer in 1896. It was first packaged in 1961, and its distinctive teardrop bottle won a design award the following year. But that was replaced in 1967 “for efficiency in the production line,” but reverted to a traditional bottle in 2002. This ad is from 1971, and features a bottle and mug of beer along with a gold ball and scorecard. This ad was the back of the program for the 1971 Ryder Cup.
Saturday’s ad is for Michelob, one of the brands created by Anheuser-Busch as a draft-only beer in 1896. It was first packaged in 1961, and its distinctive teardrop bottle won a design award the following year. But that was replaced in 1967 “for efficiency in the production line,” but reverted to a traditional bottle in 2002. This ad is from 1972, and features an on-going game of Monopoly, and somebody has a hotel on Boardwalk. Whoever is playing the Hat is going to need that beer.
Friday’s ad is for Michelob, one of the brands created by Anheuser-Busch as a draft-only beer in 1896. It was first packaged in 1961, and its distinctive teardrop bottle won a design award the following year. But that was replaced in 1967 “for efficiency in the production line,” but reverted to a traditional bottle in 2002. This ad is from 1972, and features a bottle and mug of Michelob sitting on the edge of a pool table.
