Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #1658: That’s Just What This Meal Was Needing

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Monday’s ad is another one for Guinness, from 1956. “Guinness! That’s Just What This Meal Was Needing.” Two couples are in the garden at a “cosy-looking pub” with a table of bread, cheese and fruit. One of the men — who reminds me a little of Matt Damon — got the first round and is delivering four pints of Guinness. I especially love this copy. “Nothing is added. Nothing is taken away. Every drop you drink is the real thing.” Are they going for Goldilocks or ripping off Coca-Cola thirteen years before Coke debuted “It’s the Real Thing.” Maybe Guinness should be suing them?

Guinness-1956-outdoor-cafe

Beer In Ads #1656: The Horn Is For Carlsberg

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Saturday’s ad is for Carlsberg, from 1955. This is the third one of these narrow Carlsberg ads from the same time using the tagline “The Call is for Carlsberg. Lager at its best!” The weird horn players are apparently a parody of the Luur Players statue in Denmark, although they claim it’s “famous” I couldn’t find any information about it on a quick search, not even that it just exists, so maybe they were trying to be funny.

Carlsberg-1955-horns

Beer In Ads #1655: The World And His Wife

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Friday’s ad is for Guinness, from maybe the 1950s or early 1960s. The artwork has that “It’s a Small World” vibe, with the style of illustration and each couple wearing their authentic cultural costumes. Especially when you consider the American couple in their cowboy suits, big hats and a cigarette hanging from the dude’s unshaved face. Yeah, that’s how all Americans look. As I understand it, the world and his wife essentially means a lot of people, which makes sense in the context of the copy: “The World And His Wife Enjoy Guinness.” The phrase always reminds me of the Elvis Costello song The World and His Wife from the 1983 album “Punch the Clock.”

guinness-world-and-his-wife

Beer In Ads #1654: A Tug Of Beer

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Thursday’s ad is for the Brewers’ Society, from 1956. Similar to the ads in America by the United States Brewers Foundation that ran around the same time, the British ads used taglines like “Good Wholesome BEER” and “The best long drink in the world!” People are turning red in the face in the tug-of-war contest going on in the ad. I bet I know what they can drink when they’re done building up a thirst. “A cooling drink. A cheering drink. An invigorating drink.”

best-long-drink-1956-tug

Beer In Ads #1653: Lager At Its Best!

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Wednesday’s ad is for Carlsberg, from 1956. This is the second similar ad for Carlsberg in the last few days using the “Call For Carlsberg” tagline along with the subheading “Lager at its best!” This one features a man hanging from the chandelier, as a bemused crowd below looks up. Chandelier man looks like he’s about to say something, but from the ad copy I think he’s just trying to order another beer from the bar and doesn’t want to stand in line with the rest of the hoi polloi. Kind of a dick move when you get right down to it.

Carlsberg-1956-chandelier

Beer In Ads #1652: If You Want To Feel Heroic …

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Tuesday’s ad is for Double Diamond, from 1951, which by that time was part of Ind Coope. It’s part of their “works wonders” series featuring the “Double Diamond Man.” After drinking a Double Diamond, it appears that DDM believes he can stop an armed bank robber singlehandedly. The DDM reminds me of a cross between John Cleese and Rumpole of the Bailey. The ad copy almost sounds like their encouraging such behavior. Dutch courage is one thing, but I’m not sure suggesting drinking a beer will make you a hero is necessarily a good message.

Double-Diamond-1951-robber

Beer In Ads #1651: Have A Glass Of Guinness When You’re Tired

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Monday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1945. I’m not sure who looks sadder, the camel laden down with ten levels of boxes, barrels and sacks or the dude trying to lead the ship of the desert. I guess neither of them is moving until they get a beer. The illustration feels different then many of the classic Guinness ads, but it was done by John Gilroy, who did most of their iconic ads.

Guinness-1945-camel-tired

Beer In Ads #1650: Take Away The Beer You First Thought Of

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Sunday’s ad is for Whitbread Pale Ale, from 1958. A couple who appears to have been doing some shopping have stopped to peer in a window displaying Whitbread Pale Ale in the window. The sign has the curious phrase “Take away the beer you first thought of.” “Take away” I understand, for which we usually say “to go,” but the rest I don’t understand. “The beer [I] first thought of?” When? Just now? When I had my very first thought about beer? I assume it’s a British idiom that makes sense to an Englishmen, but is incomprehensible to us crass Americans.

Whitbread-1958-take-away

Beer In Ads #1649: The Call Is For Carlsberg

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Saturday’s ad is for Carlsberg, from 1956. I guess the band is playing pretty loudly, since the woman at the club has to shout to give her order, and even her date seems to be struggling to understand her. Some of the text is great, including saying that the “pleasures of Carlsberg are widely trumpeted” because it “entertains the palate with sparking pleasure.” “It’s a tingling top-liner in taste.” But the best part is the final sentence, reassuring the womenfolk. “Remember, ladies — Carlsberg Lager is guaranteed absolutely pure-brewed, entirely without sugar or chemicals.”

Carlsberg-1956-club