Thursday’s ad is still another one for Falstaff, again from 1964. It’s the fourth in an odd series of ads featuring a gorilla that Falstaff did that year. This one shows the gorilla lying on his back reading a book on Zen while a woman with pigtails sits in a chair knitting a giant blue sock, with nearly a case of Falstaff cans at her feet.
Wednesday’s ad is yet another one for Falstaff, also from 1964. It’s the third in an odd series of ads featuring a gorilla that Falstaff did that year. This one shows the gorilla reading Dylan Thomas while a woman with pigtails sits on the floor eating popcorn, surrounded by stacks of Falstaff cans.
Tuesday’s ad is another one for Falstaff, also from 1964. It’s the second in an odd series of ads featuring a gorilla that Falstaff did that year. This one shows the gorilla playing the cello while next to her a bespectacled woman kneels, hands folded in her lap, next to a music stand with a pile of Falstaff beer cans in front of her.
Monday’s ad is for Falstaff, from 1964. It’s part of an odd series of ads featuring a gorilla that Falstaff did that year. This one shows the gorilla sitting in a rocking chair, reading, while a woman reclines on the floor building a beer can pyramid.
Friday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1961. It’s another one from their long-running “Where there’s life … there’s Bud” series. This one features a way-too-happy woman grinning like a Cheshire cat and reaching for a Budweiser in a tall glass. She appears to be looking at the person grilling the meat, but look at his hand on the left edge of the ad; doesn’t it look like it was cut and pasted there? And for that matter, so does the man at the right.
Thursday’s ad is for Senate Beer and Ale, a brand made by the Olde Heurich Brewery of Washington, D.C. back in the day. Back in the day, in this case, means 1942. It’s curious that there’s no beer at all depicted in the ad, just the lovely woman staring at us.
Okay, be warned, this isn’t for the easily offended and it’s somewhat juvenile and more than a little lascivious. But it’s also funny. You also do have to stick with it all the way to the end. And remember, I did warn you.
Wednesday’s ad is for my hometown beer, Reading Premium, which closed in 1976. This ad shows a cowboy who looks to be ready for a High Noon sort of dual, but instead of reaching for his gun, he’s reaching for a beer. Good choice.
Tuesday’s ad is a celebrity ad, one from the 1980s. It features one of my most enduring star crushes, Phoebe Cates, who celebrates her 50th birthday today. She’s probably most famous for Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins. Like many actors in the 80s who turned down doing ads in the U.S., she found the lucrative Japanese market too hard to resist. Cates also did ads for other beer companies, such as Asahi, which I featured a few years ago in 2010’s Beer in Ads #152. This one is for “Live Beer,” or at least that’s what is written on the glass of beer she’s holding. There’s something written just below that, but I can’t quite make out what, so I’m not entirely sure what she’s advertising. I suppose it doesn’t really matter. If Phoebe’s suggesting Live Beer, I’m drinking Live Beer. Join me in drinking a toast to Phoebe Cates’ birthday. Maybe with some live beer.
Monday’s ad is a German one, from 1880, though I don’t know for what brewery it’s advertising. Heute in German means “today” so it’s telling customer, presumably, that bock is available right now. Though honestly, it would appear the man in the ad has had quite enough already.
