Today’s ad, from 1895, is a postcard for Worthington’s White Shield. A trio of boaters are having bottles of beer poured by the bartender from The Flying Angler. It’s a pretty idyllic setting.
Beer In Ads #322: Bud Sailing
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.”
Beer In Ads #321: Bud Man
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.
Beer In Ads #320: Little Kings Mini Rocket Car
Today in 1997, the Boston Beer Co. took possession of the Hudephol-Schoenling Brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio. One of their most well-known brands was Little Kings Cream Ale, so I found an ad for Little Kings from the early 1980s for Monday’s ad. It shows a scary-looking costumed Little King “introducing … The Little Kings Mini Rocket Car.” It was based on a real rocket car that the brewery sponsored, driven by Larry Nagel. Nagel has some nice reminiscing about the rocket car and even the brewery’s involvement in his Flickr gallery. Here’s his commentary for this ad:
Little Kings cream ale brewery sponsored my rocket car. Here is a picture of the promotional go kart, a mini replica of my rocket car they had built. Little Kings was a family owned brewery based in Cincinnati, OH and treated me like part of the family. Every year in Champaign, IL, a college town, they have Little Kings day. The bars open at 6am and people would belly up to the bar and have a bowl of cheerios with Little Kings instead of milk. I had the Pocket Rocket outside on display and when I went inside the bar, sitting there with all the kids eating his cereal drowned in beer, was Bill Schoenling, owner of Schoenling Brewing. I had a whole new respect for this man. Talk about staying in touch with your demographic.
A Case For Beer: A Major Minor Dilemma
Here’s another odd duck, a promotional film created in the early 1970s by the National Association of Convenience Stores. It was apparently made by students at Kansas State in association with several sponsors, who also provided grant money for it, including the NACS, the Southland Corporation (7-11) and Falstaff Brewing. It also had the cooperation of four state alcohol agencies, from Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and Ohio, along with the United States Brewers Foundation.
Entitled A Case For Beer (A Major Minor Dilemma), it’s aimed at Convenience Store owners with tips on how to not sell to underage customers, while still being polite so as not to lose their non-alcohol business and not alienate them so that when they become adults they’ll still spend their money at the C-store. It’s a great time capsule — check out the cars, the fashion and the look of the stores themselves.
Some highlights:
- Factoid: 2 out of 3 families use beer as a beverage.
- The two things you have for determining a customer’s age: A Valid ID and “good judgment.”
- Advice after a woman comes in the store in a bathing suit: “don’t allow yourself to be distracted (checked everything but her age).”
- More feminine advice: “Beware of women, some have cheating hearts.”
- Great final quote: “Americans love their leisure time, and convenience stores, with their quick shopping supply of beverages and related foods, contribute to the nation’s enjoyment of leisure time.”
- Look quick at the end: and you’ll see a woman spreading relish on her hot dog with a beer can pop tab.
Guinness Ad #57: The Ideal Summer Resort
Our 57th Guinness poster by John Gilroy shows four of the zoo animals — the seal, kangaroo, toucan and pelican — frolicking on a sunny beach. The seal has a pint of Guinness balancing on top of the beach ball he’s balancing on his nose and the ad’s slogan is “Guinness — the ideal summer resort.”
Beer In Ads #319: Double Diamond, The George & Dragon
Friday’s ad is from 1954 and is for the UK brand Double Diamond. With the slogan “A Double Diamond works wonders,” it’s part of their “Inn-Sign Rhymes” series. This ad’s sign is for “George & the Dragon.”
The Rocketbeer Rocketeer
I’m a huge fan of Dave Stevens and especially his story of The Rocketeer, which was a fabulous comic book before it was a 1991 film with Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly and Alan Arkin.
What’s not to love about an adventure story with a jet pack at the heart of it? I was captivated by jet packs after I first saw one in the James Bond movie Thunderball. So what does another of my singular obsessions have to do with beer? Glad you asked. I stumbled upon this 1976 ad for Pabst Blue Ribbon earlier today and it features — yeah, you guessed it — a jet pack. Although they call it a “rocketbelt” in the ad, it’s a jet pack all the same. The original video was uploaded to YouTube by the very cool sounding Rocket Belt Society.
Beer In Ads #318: Miss Rheingold Bowls
Thursday’s ad is from 1956 and is for Rheingold Beer. Miss Rheingold for that year was Millie Merritt and in this June ad she’s gone bowling, an activity far more popular in 1956 than today. I spent many happy hours bowling in my youth, though all of it without the benefit if beer, sad to say.
Beer In Ads #317: Carling, People Try It … And They Like It
Wednesday’s ad is for Carling Black Label, one of a series of ads with the slogan “People try it … and they like it.” Each ad I’ve seen seems to feature a different unique beer glass. The one in this ad had an etched stem, and tapers up from a wide base to even wider open mouth rim. That’s not a glass I see much these days. Does anybody know if it has a specific name?
