Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #1615: Harrison Ford For Kirin Lager

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Monday’s ad is for Kirin Lager, from the early 1990s, probably 1994. I’m guessing 1994, because Ford also did a television commercial for Kirin that year. Featuring actor Harrison Ford, whose birthday is today, the poster is advertising Kirin Lager. According to one account, here is a translation of the poster, which was seen in a convenience store window:

Harrison Ford endorsing Kirin beer, Fukushima 福島

“Kono aji ga, biiru.” = “This taste, beer.”
“Kire aji, daigo aji” = “cutting edge taste, the epitome of taste”
“Kirin ragaa.” = “Kirin lager.”

Kirin-Harrison-Ford-1
And apparently the small letters at the bottom here translate as: “You have to be 20 years old for beer and recycle the empty cans.”

Beer In Ads #1556: Lady In Green

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Friday’s ad is for Sapporo, probably from the early part of the 20th century. It shows a female bartender in a green dress with a red belt serving a bottle of Sapporo. I can’t read Japanese Kanji so I don’t know what it says, but it’s a cool ad and you can see why they obviously made a poster out of it.

jbeer-sapporo

Beer In Ads #1535: Asahi Anime

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Friday’s ad is for Asahi, from sometime over the last decade or so. It’s hard to say since Japanese anime or manga art is often so timeless. Animation in the form of anime and manga is incredibly popular in Japan, and became increasingly so in the U.S. from the 1980s on. Beyond the cheesecake factor, it’s a simple, and familiar beer advertising image, of a woman on the beach in a bikini. I’m sure that music means something, but I don’t recognize the tune. The woman also may be a familiar character from a popular manga book but I don’t recognize her either.

Asahi-anime

Beer In Ads #1145: Kirin Soldier

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Saturday’s ad is for Kirin, from 1939. This is another odd one, with a Japanese woman holding a large bottle of Kirin beer over her shoulder. But her shadow shows a soldier marching behind her, which seems almost eerie in hindsight, knowing that World War 2 was looming and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was only two years away.

Kirin-1939

Beer In Ads #1144: Yebisu Airplane

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Friday’s ad is for Yebisu Beer, from 1930. This was only three years after Charles Lindbergh’s famous transatlantic solo flight, so showing an airplane above the Tokyo skyline was probably pretty cutting edge at the time. I love the stylized perspective, especially the wing.

Yebisu-1930

Beer In Ads #1142: Sakura Beer Goddess

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Wednesday’s ad is another one for Sakura beer, this one from between 1928-32. This fetching flag-bearer is thrusting a glass of beer to the heavens from her perch above the Earth. I’m not sure why — It may be her confidence and assertive stare — but I want the beer she’s offering.

Sakura-beer-1928-32

Beer In Ads #1139: Tokio Beer

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Sunday’s ad is for Tokio Beer, from 1906. I know some manga today looks like this, but it’s a pretty unattractive ad. The man with the Snidely Whiplash moustache doesn’t look very trustworthy and the fat cherub riding the red cock holding a large bottle of beer … well, what more can you say?

Tokio-beer-1906