Monday’s ad is a 1948 ad for Budweiser. Using the “There’s nothing like it … absolutely nothing” slogan that was common in the later 1940s, the ad features a pair of waitresses some pretty odd uniforms. They look like something out of Sinbad the Sailor.
Wednesday’s ad is a 1948 ad for Budweiser featuring our third President, Thomas Jefferson, whose birthday is also today. He was born April 13, 1743. According to the Bud ad, he also introduced spaghetti to America. Let’s say I’m skeptical. Here’s the text:
From Naples he got a mould to form spaghetti and introduced what is one of our most important and popular foods. He did the marketing for the White House and presided genially over its inviting table. Jefferson earnestly believed that good food and drink temperately enjoyed each day with good friends were essential to a worthwhile lifetime.
I love the slogan at the bottom of the ad:
Live life, every golden minute of it.
Enjoy Budweiser, every golden drop of it.
The illustration is also priceless, showing a smiling redheaded Jefferson spinning spaghetti on a spoon, showing his two guests, in full wigs, how it’s done. And I thought it was Chef Boyardee.
Interestingly, my initial skepticism turned out to be right. According to a great article by Corby Kummer on the origins of Pasta in The Atlantic:
Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing dried pasta without egg to America, but, like the Marco Polo legend, this is a romantic fiction. He did take notes on the manufacturing process during a trip to Naples and even commissioned a friend in Italy to buy him a “maccarony machine.” He shipped himself two cases of pasta in 1789. By 1798 a Frenchman had opened what may have been the first American pasta factory, in Philadelphia, and it was a success. Upper-class Americans also bought pasta imported from Sicily, which had snob appeal.
As today is Andrew Jackson’s birthday, for Tuesday’s ad I dusted off this 1908 ad for Budweiser in which Olde Hickory features prominently. The ad’s headline reads “1908 Budweiser is ‘Liquid Bread’ / ‘Liquid Life’ The Natural Drink of America / Andrew Jackson 7th President of the United States.” Below the drawing of Jackson on horseback in battle, the text suggests he drank only beer. “All his life,” begins the ad copy,” he drank the generous creative juices of the malt.” They don’t write ’em like that any more.
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1960, and it’s one of their “where’s there’s life … there’s Bud” series. This one shows a couple enjoying an evening on the floor. Cigarette hanging from his mouth, the man is pouring a bottle of Budweiser while his lady friend watches expectantly. Holding her hands on either side of the filling beer glass, her expression seems to be waiting to say “when.”
Today’s ad, from 1949, is for Budweiser and shows two couples out for a day of sailing, and drinking Budweiser in the process — which strikes me as not the best way to sail, especially the way that boat is listing. “Don’t drink and sail.”
Today in 1969, Budweiser’s cartoon spokesman “BudMan” debuted. Though it was most popular throughout the Seventies, it’s still being used today. For a time, A-B produced different stickers, with new ones every year. So here are a few examples of Bud Man sticker ads over the years.
Thursday’s ad is from 1940 and is for Budweiser. The ad’s tagline is “Their Hero Arrives on the Next Bus,” and shows two young children standing by a fence eagerly awaiting the arrival of their “daddy” home from work. Read the ad copy on this one, it’s pretty hilarious. And check out at the bottom their “Make This Test” in the center box. “Drink Budweiser for five days. On the sixth day, try to drink a sweet beer. You will want Budweiser’s flavor thereafter.” Or maybe not.
Wednesday’s ad is for Budweiser from 1962, showing the apparently unusual sight of men in the kitchen. Oh, but drinking beer there makes it okay. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t believe this foursome is going to be able to solve all the world’s problems, as the ad copy suggests.
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser from 1982, showing sports equipment and announcing Anheuser-Busch as a “proud sponsor of the 1984 Olympic team.” It’s one of the few ads showing beer in a paper cup, which I guess continues the sporting theme.
Wednesday’s ad is a Budweiser ad from 1958. The text “Fancy That!” at the top of the ad seems to be trying to equate the beer as being as “fancy” as the woman holding the lacy fan. I’ve called Bud a lot of things, but fancy was never one of them.
