Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

Socialize

Buster Keaton For Simon Pure Beer

By

simon-pure
Today is the birthday of American actor, vaudevillian, comedian, filmmaker, stunt performer, and writer Buster Keaton. He’s best known for his silent films, and especially The General, considerd by many to be one of the best films of all-time. In 1962, Keaton made a series of commercials for the William Simon Brewery of Buffalo, New York. The ads were done in a silent film style, employing many of Keaton’s best gags from his glory days on the 1920s.

buster-keaton-1

buster-keaton-2
buster-keaton-3
buster-keaton-4

Initially, I only had these three gifs made from one of the commercials, but happily discovered that the whole ad has now been posted on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSf4ZKsv2HEYouTube:

And here’s another one Keaton did:

And a third:

And finally, a fourth ad Keaton did for Simon Pure Beer.

simon-pure-beer

Beer In Ads #1697: Distinctive

By


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.

Miller-1949-distinctive

Beer In Ads #1695: Go To The Store. Go Directly To The Store. Do Not Pass Go.

By


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.

Schlitz-1968-monopoly-3

Beer In Ads #1693: Famous Signals Of The Royal Canadian Navy

By


Tuesday’s ad is for John Labatt Limited, from 1943. Apparently part of a wartime series, as this first one is marked “Famous Signals of the Royal Canadian Navy, No. 1.” Labatt directed a lot of its advertising during World War II toward extolling the virtues of the Canadian army and navy, and in this one they even promote “the Overseas League Tobacco Fund” to ensure soldiers won’t run out of cigarettes.

Labatt-1943-ship-warheads

Beer In Ads #1692: The Way To A Man’s Heart!

By


Monday’s ad is for Blatz, from 1939. A woman is delivering a tray of Blatz beer, and boy does he look happy. It’s another one of those magic beer bottles. Less than half the bottle has been emptied, but she’s filled the pilsner glasses. So either they’re six-ounce glasses or ginormous bottles. Maybe magic tricks are the way to a man’s heart.

Blatz-1939-moms-heart

Beer In Ads #1690: From Chesapeake Bay …

By


Saturday’s ad is for National Bohemian Light Beer, from 1959. The syntax in the ad copy just seems odd. “From Chesapeake Bay … land of pleasant living we bring you this quality beer.” Seems like a “ta-da” moment with no payoff, just a picture of a boat, an illustrated beer bottle, and the silhouette of a beer glass containing the ad copy.

NationalBohemianAd_1959