
Saturday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1943. This World War 2 ad features a bald eagle flywing in the sky with three American glider planes above. Apparently Anheuser-Busch’s Refrigeration Division was retooled to build gliders for the war effort.

By Jay Brooks
By Jay Brooks

Friday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1944. This World War 2 ad features a colonial minuteman standing vigilantly in a field behind a team of oxen as a young boy points to where the trouble is. The ad claims that “The Minuteman is Still the Man of the Hour,” comparing them to the soldiers of the day fighting in World War 2. Sure, why not.

By Jay Brooks

Thursday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1943. This World War 2 ad features a smiling boy holding a sandwich with the headline “You call it Bread … but your ancestors would have called it Cake.” Luckily during war we had an abundance of our daily bread, a.k.a. “the staff of life.” But look at the four illustrations behind the boy. The two on the left make sense. First, there’s a farmer harvesting wheat, which is used to make bread. Then there’s a woman in uniform holding a tray of bread. So far so good. On the right, there’s a shirtless man wearing white gloves and goggles holding a long metal rod. There’s also a giant vat behind him, the kind you see in steel mills. So why the hell is he shirtless? That makes no sense. Then there’s a man sitting but wearing what looks like an early hazmat suit with a diving bell helmet. What do either of those have to do with bread?

By Jay Brooks

Wednesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1942. This World War 2 ad features a giant house made of candy, and then comparing that to how corn syrup is a necessary ingredient in candy. And thanks to A-B’s research into corn and all the vitamins that are part of the brewing process, they’re helping a child’s dream come true.

By Jay Brooks

Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1942. This World War 2 ad features an ancient warrior protecting us, and then comparing that to how vitamins also protect your well-being. And thanks to A-B’s research into all the vitamins that are part of the brewing process, they’re guarding your well-being, too.

By Jay Brooks
By Jay Brooks
By Jay Brooks
By Jay Brooks
By Jay Brooks

Thursday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1943. This World War 2 ad features the animals marching down a hill, maybe to the slaughter, since it’s their meat that is the subject here. Even during the war, Americans are very well nourished, apparently in part due to Anheuser-Busch’s yeast being used to fortify animal feed. Hmm, seems like a bit of a stretch, but it is making me hungry.

