The fifth Guinness poster by John Gilroy is one of many ads that are in a zoo. In this one, a bear has snatched the zookeeper’s Guinness and is trying to offer a trade, but the bear looks none too interested in giving up his beer for anything. The tagline is another common one, “My Goodness – My Guinness.”
Friday’s ad is for Budweiser cans from 1963. You have to admire her ‘do and the mod frock, but “Pick a Pair,” suggesting that the “smart way to buy” is to purchase two six-packs implies that the 12-pack had not yet been invented. To me, that’s the odd notion. When did the 12-pack debut as a lasting package? I know breweries experimented with varying package sizes, before the sixer became the standard. I also seem to recall its victory had something to do with weight and ease of carrying. Though despite the obscenely happy face she’s wearing, she seems to be struggling a bit with carrying two six-packs, or at least they’re perched precariously.
Thursday’s ad is another Schlitz ad from most likely the 1950s. I find it a little creepy, actually, though I’m sure that was not the intention. That fairy tale bear in his nightshirt and slippers just looks a bit eye. And while the house obviously has electricity to power the refrigerator, he’s still carrying an old-fashioned candle. Why? Wouldn’t the light in the ‘frig be enough?
Wednesday’s ad is a 1960s one for Schmidt’s, a Philadelphia brewery. I love the tagline, “Give Your Thirst a Taste of Life ….” It looks more like they’re taking their beer for a ride on their bikes. How about those kicky Sixties fashions, especially the headband and purple sneakers.
This Friday is also the three-year anniversary of The Sessions, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday. When I created the logo for the Session, I used this Gangloff beer ad from 1930. I chose it for its simplicity and clean lines. I think it’s worked well, and so it made the obvious choice for today’s ad.
As far as I can tell, Brasserie Gangloff was an Alsatian brewery that closed in 1970. The only photo I could find of it was after it was bombed on July 16, 1943 during World War II.
Thursday’s ad is for Baltimore’s National Bohemian. There’s not much info about the ad, though I’m guessing based on the indistinct background that it’s more late-50s to early 60s. I love the cartoony bartender (The Natty Boh mascot Mr. Boh, from the 1950s to the present) with the clean, empty bar showing the slide down to the unseen patron at the end of the bar.
Wednesday’s ad is for Carling Black Label and it from 1960. Is it the glass that’s making the beer look somewhat odd, or something else? The tagline is interesting, “People try it … and they like it.” Isn’t that a bit too close to Alka-Seltzer’s famous “Try It, You’ll Like It” slogan that ran beginning in 1971?
Thursday’s ad is for a classic Schlitz ad from 1951. Like many ads from that time period, it was drawn by Bill Fleming. His work has a distinctive look to it. I confess I have a “thing” for old Schlitz memorabilia, especially their Schlitzerland campaign and the period of years where they used the globe logo prominently, as I also had an obsession with globes, too. This one is still funny nearly sixty years later.
Tuesday’s ad is for the Budweiser flat-top can from 1964. They’re going for that manly fisherman demographic. I found it interesting given yesterday’s post, Evolution of a Beer Label, just how much importance A-B was placing on its label in 1964. Notice what the ad copy reads. “The story is on every Budweiser label.” But I think the previous question asked by the ad, “[i]s there any real difference in the way beers are brewed,” will have the average beer geek laughing out loud.
Below is, as far as I know, the most recent label for Budweiser, updated in 2000. We all know that labels change over time, sometimes dramatically, but usually more subtly with just small tweaks from time to time. But even small changes over a long period of time become dramatic in the long view. So this is a fascinating peak into those changes.
Etiquette Systems, a label manufacturer, has an online gallery showing what they call the Evolution of America’s Most Famous Beer Label. It shows a dozen different versions of the Budweiser label, from the first 1876 version up to the 2000 latest one, with all of the changes in between.
