Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #694: Boy Did Those Grilled Steaks Used To Taste Swell

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Friday’s ad is another pro-beer ad by the United Brewers Industrial Foundation, this one from 1944, when we were fully engage in World War II. The UBIF did a series during the war that reminded people back home what the soldiers fighting on their behalf were missing, and also reminded people what they were fighting for, which in this case was the ability to have a backyard barbecue with steak and beer. I love the text, especially toward the end:

Wholesome and satisfying. how good it is … as a beverage of moderation after a hard day’s work … with good friends … with a home-cooked meal.

A glass of beer or ale — not of crucial importance surely … yet it is little things like this that help mean home to all of us, that do so much to build morale — ours and his.

USBF-grilled-steaks-1944

Beer In Ads #693: The Coors Light Twins

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Today is the 41st birthdays of Diane & Elaine Klimaszewski, better known as the “Coors Light Twins,” so I thought today was the day to feature a few of their ads. The first Coors Light ad is from 2003 and uses a football theme.

Coors-2003-twins

These last two are from the year before, 2002. The first uses the simple tagline “Here’s to the Twins.”

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And the second uses the appropriate “Here’s to the Twins. Again,” though I think it’s the same photo from the first ad.

Coors-2002-twins

Beer In Ads #692: 5 Million Pounds Of Farm Products

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Wednesday’s ad is from 1939, it’s by the United Brewers Industrial Foundation, promoting the brewing industry six years after the end of prohibition. According to the ad, brewers had bought five million pounds of farm products in those half-dozen years. Barley, wheat, rice and corn, from tree million acres of American farm lands. It’s also one of the earliest instances I’ve seen of the tagline they used throughout the 40s and 50s: “Beer … a Beverage of Moderation.”

USBF-farming-1939

Beer In Ads #691: Leupin’s Beer Glasses

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Tuesday’s ad is another by famed Swiss illustrator Herbert Leupin. Like many of his others, I’m not sure what beer this ad is for or when it was created, though he worked mainly beginning in the late 1930s and then took up paintings around 1970. So we can safely say it was between those dates. The two glasses look like they could be separate pieces, since the blue backgrounds look just a hair different shades. But boy oh boy, Leupin sure could draw beer that looks good enough to drink.

leupin-045

Beer In Ads #689: Budweiser Camouflaged Sunbathers

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Friday’s ad is for Budweiser, another fairly recent ad, this one from 1984. Despite its somewhat sexist theme, I confess I have fond memories of this ad from when I was a young adult. It’s funny seeing the portable CD player and compact discs sitting in the sun. That was fairly new technology at the time. I vividly remember that a few years before this ad, when I was working as a music buyer for a chain of record stores, CBS Records gave us a demonstration of the new compact disc they were about to debut. I also recall being blown away by how clear and hiss-free the sound was.

Bud-1984-sunbathers

Beer In Ads #688: You Know She’s Not A Natural Blonde

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Thursday’s ad is for Molson, a fairly recent ad, from 2004. The ad is extolling the virtues of Molson’s “Twin Label Technology,” which as far as I can tell means you can turn the bottle around and there’s a second label with a funny saying on it. With labels like “It’s Over,” “I’m Not Wearing Any Underwear” and “Nice Mullet,” it’s clever but isn’t reason enough to buy the beer inside. It seems like mainstream beer companies spend far more resources on their labels, advertising and marketing than the beer itself.

Molson-2004

Beer In Ads #687: Pilsner Is A Type Of Beer

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Wednesday’s ad is for Miller Lite, from 1999. The ad features model/actress Rebecca Romjin and the tagline “Pilsner is a type of beer. Kind of like Rebecca is a kind of woman.” Does that mean Rebecca’s NOT a woman? Because Miller Lite is hardly a pilsner. Calling Miller Lite a “true pilsner” is like saying a cardboard stand-up of Rebecca is the real flesh and blood model.

Miller-1999-Romjin

Beer In Ads #686: Schlitz Circus Elephant

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Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1951. The ad shows a circus elephant so enamored of a Schlitz billboard that he’s trying to drink the beer off of the ad. A policeman is running up to the elephant, but his trainer is just shrugging his shoulders. With beer this good, what can he do? At least that’s the idea. I’m not sure I’d take advice on what makes a good beer from an elephant.

Schlitz-1951-circus

Beer In Ads #685: On September 3, 1842 …

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Monday’s ad is for Schaefer, though I don’t know when the ad originally ran. The ad plays on Schaefer’s history, with this tagline. “On September 3, 1842 our first customer bought 5 gallons of Schaefer beer. It was the start of the one beer to have when you’re having more than one.”

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