Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, when they introduced their version of the pop top can, which I talked about yesterday in my post John Updike’s Paean to the Beer Can. The ad is also from 1964, when by then nearly 75% of American brewers had some version of the pull-tab.
Wednesday’s ad, since it’s St. Patrick’s Day, is for Guinness, but I wanted to pick one that wasn’t by John Gilroy. This one is a spoof of Alice in Wonderland from I don’t know when. The art is similar, of course, but it seems later. Beginning in 1903, numerous films have been made based on Lewis Carroll’s surreal story, but the Disney version from 1951 probably did more to popularize the story than any other, especially for kids. So based on that I’m just guessing this was before that since the artwork looks more inspired by the original illustrator, John Tenniel, than Walt. Anyway, the text spoofing the scene with the Mad Hatter is pretty funny. Happy Stout Day.
“Have some Guinness!” said the March Hare.
“I don’t see any Guinness,” Alice replied.
“There isn’t any” said the March Hare.
“Then you must be mad to offer me some!” said Alice indignantly.
“It’s after hours,” said the Hatter, “and we can’t get any. That’s enough to make anyone mad.”
“But surely you could have ordered some to drink at home,” said Alice.
“There!” said the March Hare. “We never though of that. That just shows how mad we must be.”
Tuesday’s ad is a favorite of a friend of mine, Christian Kazakoff — who’s the head brewer at Iron Springs Pub & Brewery — and is for the Danish beer Tuborg. I got an e-mail from Christian last night about how much he’s enjoying my “Beer In Advertising” series and sharing with me his personal favorite, so I thought I’d feature his choice today.
Founded in 1873, since 1970 Tuborg has been owned by Danish brewing giant Carlsberg. Though founded in 1873, it was two years before they began brewing so in 1900 they sponsored a poster contest to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Though the winning entries were never used, one submission went on to become an iconic image, one that even today is still associated with Tuborg beer, especially throughout Europe. The painting, created by Danish artist Erik Henningsen (1855-1930), is known today as The Thirsty Man and has been used since November 1900 in Tuborg’s advertising.
It’s original title translated as The Sweaty Man, but since beer was the end product and not deodorant, it became known as The Thirsty Man, which I think you’ll agree has a much better ring to it. According to Just-Drinks, “the poster is still one of the most popular sold in Denmark. The image of the Thirsty Man has also been used to great effect in Germany, where Tuborg is the leading imported beer.” [Or at least it was when they wrote that in 2000.]
In addition, “the popularity of the poster was added to in 1977 when Den Store Tuborg (The Big Tuborg) [in] half-litre bottles was launched using the image as a label.”
Even now, 110 years later, you can find Tuborg advertising using The Thirsty Man, such as this sign for Tuborg Pilsener.
Since it’s St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow and for most people that means Guinness, here’s a little reminder of something in Guinness’ recent past that I imagine they’d rather remained buried. But it’s just too funny not to share. In 1979, Guinness released a low-calorie beer they called “Guinness Light.” According to Ireland Fun Facts, “people here still talk about the advertising campaign, which used the tagline ‘they said it couldn’t be done.’ Apparently it couldn’t. Guinness Light flopped so sensationally it earned the title ‘The HMS Titanic of stout products’ from The Irish Times.”
It’s not hard to see why. I can scarcely imagine something more oxymoronic than Guinness Light. But for true liquid-shooting-out-your-nose laughs, watch the uber-bombastic television commercial that attempts to equate the beer with man landing on the moon. With bonus points for using the sunrise fanfare from “Thus Spake Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss (trust me, you’ll know it when you hear it), I love the editing of the people turning their heads quickly toward the camera and the faux echo chamber voice over. Just hilarious. But put your drink down first. Enjoy.
Monday’s ad is an attempt to contrast Friday’s, which you may recall was the Girl in the Moon for Miller High Life. I don’t know much about this ad, though I believe it’s from the 1930s. It appears to be from Germany but looks not at all like a typical ad for a German beer. In this case, instead of the girl being in the moon, she’s instead offering the thirsty moon a drink of beer.
Our ninth Guinness poster by John Gilroy features a frustrated goldfish who can’t reach a pint of Guinness just outside his fishbowl. Under the “Guinness For Strength” banner, it also uses the curious tagline. “It’s a poor fish that never has a Guinness.”
Friday’s ad is for Miller High Life featuring the “Girl in the Moon,” which was originally created in the early 1900’s by an unknown artist. The beer itself debuted in 1903 and was advertised with the girl in the moon from the beginning, though to me she looks more like a witch. I think it’s that hat. It’s rumored that the model for her was brewery founder Frederick Miller’s granddaughter. But I’ve always liked the stylized, colorful costume she wears.
And here’s another one featuring her.
Wednesday’s ad is for a presumably short-lived New York City brewery, Brewer’s Best Associates, Inc., which was located at 620 Fifth Avenue. The ad for their Pilsener Beer is from 1947. The normally authoritative American Breweries II doesn’t even have a listing for the brewery, which is odd. It’s the first time I’ve looked up a brewery and it wasn’t listed. Given that I’ve never heard of it and there doesn’t seem to be a record of the brewery, it’s funny that their slogan is all about remembering their name, “The New Big Name in Beer.” I guess it didn’t work out as they’d hoped. The other funny thing in the ad is the endorsement from “Ted Collins, owner of Boston Yanks Pro-Football Team and famous radio producer.” The Boston Yanks were a short-lived team that only played from 1944-47. In 1948, they relocated to New York City and were the New York Bulldogs for a season before becoming the New York Yanks until 1952, when they played their final season in Texas as the Dallas Texans. As for the beer, I guess it wasn’t “the beer you’ve been waiting for” after all.
UPDATE: An alert reader (thanks Beer Dave!) offered some additional information about Brewer’s Best.
Brewers Best was actually not a brewery. This was a franchise of sorts. Brewers Best was brewed at about 25 different small breweries around the US. The headquarters in NY was essentially a sales office. This brand had national distribution through the network of small brewers who brewed the beer under contract.
Tuesday’s ad is for Stag Beer, whose original name was “Kaiser Beer” until 1907. In an effort to avoid growing anti-German sentiment, Star Brewing held a contest to pick a new name. A winner was chosen today in 1907, and the beer was renamed “Stag Beer.” It proved a very popular name. The ad below ran in a Pennsylvania newspaper in 1959. It features the popular UPA cartoon character Mr. Magoo.
Mr. Magoo debuted in 1949 and was voiced by Jim Backus, perhaps most well-known as Thurston Howell III on the television series Gilligan’s Island.
But being a cartoon, where Mr. Magoo really shined was in cartoon commercials for Stag.
You have to love the cartoon of an adult character who’s allowed to act like an adult. That would never happen nowadays.
Here’s an example of one of the Mr. Magoo ads for Stag Beer.
Monday’s ad is for Schlitz Malt Liquor. I don’t ever remember the can looking so, well, stylish so I have to guess this is from the 60s? The pull-top is another clue, of course, as Schlitz introduced what they called the “pop-top” in 1963. Plus the stylized art looks rather bachelor pad circa mid-60s, too. Plus, I love those bold reds and blacks.
