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Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #927: Satisfy Your Thirst For Better Beer!

July 9, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Tuesday’s ad for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1954. Part of PBR’s “What’ll You Have” series, this one is tennis-themed, with a white tennis sweater emblazoned with Pabst’s tagline by the courts, back in the days when they still used white balls and … well, wore sweaters. Still not quite sure what made the beer better, though.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Pabst

Beer In Ads #886: Mr. Basketball

May 13, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Monday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1950. It’s one of Pabst’s “What’ll You Have” ads, but featuring a sports celebrity, George Mikan. In post-war America, Mikan was known as “Mr. Basketball” and was the Lakers’ center when they still played in a state with lots of lakes. He’s considered a pioneer of modern basketball, and retired as the all-time leading scorer. The NBA actually altered the rules of the game to reduce his dominance and he was directly responsible for the three-point line was and partially for the shot clock. And apparently he drank Pabst.

Pabst-1950-George-Mikan

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Pabst

Beer In Ads #884: Old-Time Flavor Likes You Best!

May 9, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Thursday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1963. The ad apparently is meant to look older, from the century before the Sixties. But the notion that “old-time flavor likes you best” strikes me as hilariously odd.

Pabst-1963-old-time

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Pabst

Beer In Ads #875: Pabst Fish Fry

April 29, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Monday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1954. It’s from their “What’ll You Have” series,and this one shows three recently caught fish frying in a pan on the grill. Is is me or is that bucket of ice that the beer is cooling in a little close to the flame? That ice is going to melt pretty quickly.

Pabst-1954-fish-fry

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Pabst

Beer In Ads #867: Happiest Haul Of The Day!

April 17, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Wednesday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1947. Part of a series of ads Pabst did around that time, all showing an illustration inside of a big blue ribbon. This one shows a fisherman pulling out some cans of Pabst that he’d been cooling in the river while he fished.

Pabst-1947-fishing

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Pabst

Pabst’s Blue Ribbon Competition

April 7, 2013 By Jay Brooks

blue-ribbon
Mental Floss had an interesting story about how Pabst Brewing Co. got the blue ribbon that graces every bottle and can of their beer. In How Did Pabst Blue Ribbon Win its Blue Ribbon? author Matt Soniak details the events at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago that led to Pabst claiming total victory and justifying that blue ribbon in the years that followed.

pabst

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun, Politics & Law Tagged With: History, Pabst

Beer In Ads #820: When It’s “Your Turn” To Entertain…

March 11, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Monday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1954. With the title “When It’s ‘Your Turn’ To Entertain…” and part of their long-running “What’ll You Have” series, they suggest that just what you need to to “dazzle your friends” is a Virginia ham with a special glaze made with beer. The ad helpfully includes the recipe to make the “Blue Ribbon Ham Glaze” to make your party a bit hit.

Pabst-1954-ham

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Pabst

Beer In Ads #817: Playtime For Gregory Peck

March 6, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Wednesday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1953. The ad features Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Peck, who according to the ad served Pabst “in the Modern Bar of their Santa Monica Home.” Funny you don’t see celebrity ads for beer much these days.

Pabst-1948-pecks

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Pabst

Beer In Ads #776: Chicken In The Basket

January 7, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Monday’s ad is for Pabst, from 1954, part of their “What’ll You Have” series. The ad features a glass of Pabst paired with “Chicken in the Basket.” That’s some shiny-looking chicken. One interesting thing about the ad copy is I’m used to beer being “paired” with food, but here they say this. “Teamed with any food, distinctive Pabst Blue Ribbon makes meal-time an extra pleasure.” That’s an interesting way of putting it. One’s not paired with the other, but instead the two teamed up together.

Pabst-chicken-basket

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Pabst

Beer In Ads #744: What’ll You Have? Fish!

November 23, 2012 By Jay Brooks


Friday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1954. It’s from their “What’ll You Have” series that started around the same time. In this case, the answer to that question is “fish.”

Pabst-1954-fish

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Pabst

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