Thursday’s ad is another one for Guinness, also from 1956. Presenting the “Guinness Guide To Steaks,” featuring seven different steak dishes, a few of which I’d never even heard of, meaning I either need to get out more or common steak dishes have changed a lot in the last sixty years since the ad was published.
Wednesday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1956. What a lovely story, 1950s style. “The Young Hostess made a lovely deep fry.” But it doesn’t end there, it just builds. Then “her husband brought home the Guinness.” And how did the story end? “Their guests had a perfect meal. And very nice, too!” I know I’m hungry, especially for those “crisp, crunchy chips!”
Tuesday’s ad is for the English brewer’s “Beer is Best” campaign, from 1949. The campaign began in 1933, and ran for 30 years, and this one included landlord “Fred Green” — whoever that is — who apparently greets every patron with a “good evening” and a “cheerful smile.” I definitely want to go to that pub.
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?
Sunday’s ad is for Guinness, from sometime in the 1940s. It’s more of a two-strip comic than an ad, and a relatively fun one at that. Cheap bastard. But at least the horse looks happy, and so does the man. I guess he’s smiling since he just saved himself 1/-.
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.
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
