Tuesday’s ad is for Anheuser-Busch Lager, from 1887. It’s an interesting bottle, not for the Budweiser brand name, but for St. Louis Lager Beer, on which it also extolls their gold medal wins in “Philadelphia 1876” and “Paris 1875.”
Beer In Ads #494: This Year Buy Him A Beer
Thursday’s ad is holiday ad for Michelob, from 1963. Their suggestion, “This year buy him a beer” seems like a good one, though in truth Michelob probably wouldn’t be the one I”d want, but maybe that’s just me. I love how they spin it in the ad copy. They refer to giving Michelob as an “unhackneyed” gift, “whether beer lover or bottle fancier.”
Beer In Ads #468: I See You Have Excellent Taste
Wednesday’s ad is a pre-war 1937 ad for Budweiser. A stylized pin-up fortune teller is peering into her crystal ball containing a crystal beer. Seeing the Budweiser, she declares “I see you have excellent taste.” See, I knew those fortune tellers were fakes.
Beer In Ads #440: The Choice Of Your Lifetime, Too
Friday’s ad brings Budweiser ad week to a close. This ad is from 1952, when A-B celebrated their 100th anniversary since the company that would become Anheuser-Busch first opened their doors in 1852. I can’t say the woman looks particularly happy on her wedding day, though perhaps it’s because the grooms looks a little too much like Snidely Whiplash with that cheesy mustache and the top hat.
Beer In Ads #439: Hospitality Is Quickly Recognized
Thursday’s ad is yet another Budweiser ad, this one from 1949. It, too, shows a party, though this one looks like it’s a “Gone With the Wind” costume party. Or did people really throw parties that looks like this in post-war America? “My, my. It’s so hot. But at least it’s not sticky. I just hare it when it’s sticky.” Now give me a beer.
Beer In Ads #438: That Woman Is Real Competition
Wednesday’s ad is still another Budweiser ad, this one from 1956. Like yesterdays, it shows a woman’s domestic struggles at pleasing her man, this time in putting on the best dinner party. One woman in a cocktail dress is whispering to another, who’s combing her hair, about another woman who’s skills as a hostess make her “real competition.” In part, that’s because she insists on always serving Budweiser. But you knew that had to be the reason, right? I can’t imagine why feminist groups often accuse alcohol ads of portraying woman in a less-than-flattering light.
Beer In Ads #437: She Married Two Men
Tuesday’s ad is another Budweiser ad. I’m not sure of the date, but based on the car I’d say Fifties. After getting married, the coy-looking bride found “She Married Two Men” Then the ad copy goes on to say that “all women do.” That’s apparently because there’s an inner and outer men. “And think of all the planning that goes into meals to make him contented.” Or if he’s so hard to please, he could just make his own damn meals. But I love the post script. “It’s a fact: Budweiser has delighted more husbands than any other brew ever known.” Single people? Not so much, apparently. I can’t imagine how they compiled that statistic, because I’m sure they must have the numbers to back it up stretching all the back into recorded history. After all, they wouldn’t have just made it up, now would they?
Beer In Ads #436: The Minuteman Is Still The Man Of The Hour
Monday’s ad is a Budweiser ad from 1944, during World War 2. The slogan being “The Minuteman is Still the Man of the Hour, the ad is comparing the colonial minutemen to the soldiers then fighting the war. The ad is surprisingly low key, and is very little about selling, with the only sales pitch at all simply being the logo, bottle and glass with just some small print about the brand.
Beer In Ads #362: American Originals, Muenchener
Wednesday’s ad is for the third, and last, one of Anheuser-Busch’s series of beers they marketed under the name “American Originals,” beginning in the fall of 1995. This one was Muenchener, a “Munich Style Amber.” Here’s what a press release said about it at the time:
Muenchener was first brewed in 1893 — and called “Columbian Muenchener” at the time — after Adolphus Busch challenged his brewmasters to develop the world’s best muenchener-style beer. Until then, the world’s best muenchener beers were brewed in Munich, Germany, but Busch set out to change that. His brewmasters succeeded, and Busch’s Columbian Muenchener was awarded a gold medal at the 1893 Columbian World’s Exposition in Chicago.
Muenchener is a medium-to-full bodied beer with a deep, copper color. It possesses a rich, creamy and roasted malt flavor, and its aroma is malty, with a light roast and spice characteristic.
“In brewing Muenchener, we use five varieties of malt, including Munich-style malt and other roasted barley malts, as well as a blend of seven domestic and imported hops,” Kahn said.
Beer In Ads #361: American Originals, Black & Tan
Tuesday’s ad is for another one of Anheuser-Busch’s series of beers they marketed under the name “American Originals,” beginning in the fall of 1995. This one was Black & Tan, a “Porter.” Here’s what a press release said about it at the time:
Adolphus Busch’s Black and Tan was first brewed in 1899 as an American porter, and was particularly popular on draught in saloons. Black and Tan is a full-bodied porter with a bit more malt to soften the flavor, and it has a deep reddish-brown color. It is a hearty, rich and dark ale that features taste characteristics of roasted malt, chocolate and coffee. Its aroma combines roasted malt, chocolate, fruity and slightly floral characteristics.
Black and Tan is brewed using a true English ale yeast, a blend of chocolate, caramel and two other varieties of roasted malt, and a combination of Washington State hops and imported hops.
“Black and Tan is a very hearty, rich, and dark beer that is a perfect complement to foods of a similar nature, such as meat stews, chilis and strong chocolate-flavored desserts,” Kahn said.
