Ten Great (& Not-so-great) Moments in Beer Advertising

It must be great fun to work for an advertising agency handling a beer or alcohol client. You are participating in a long history of weirdness, really. Because, let's be real, most people who drink alcohol, drink it to get, well, anything from a "buzz" to "bombed" or even "blasted." But you can't say that, can you?

The history of beer advertising, then, is fertile ground for creatively dodging that elephant in any room. It also makes so many things "beer" collectible, including all the signs, posters and anything else through which beer has been packaged, marketed, advertised and otherwise sold. All of it dipsy-doodles around the main reason people drink beer: that it is sinful fun. There has never been a single alcohol ad showing people acting drunk and stupid. Beer advertising never deals with the problems of alcoholism, drunk driving, family abuse, or any of the other attendant ills and dangers of alcohol consumption.

But anyway, throughout the history of beer advertising there have been many iconic moments.

Below, is a collection of ten of those moments captured in print advertising, some of these later memorialized in collectible bar signs or beer posters.

10. Billy Beer

For those who weren't there during the Carter presidency, Jimmy had a brother who was, well, a little embarrassing... if perhaps not quite as dumb as Dan Quayle. Billy Beer was the beer named for Billy Carter.

On a box of Billy Beer (yes, this was the president's brother), the text reads, "It's the best beer I've ever tasted, and I've tasted a lot." Yup, says President Carter, that's my brother.

9. Labatt's Uncle Hans in a hat

Just file this under WTF.

In an ad from the Canadian brewer, Labatt's, a magician's assistant holds a sign with the ad's "message" while a magician makes a weird little cartoon man pop out of a hat.

Oktoberfest patrons will recognize the character as Uncle Hans, the event's mascot. But that makes the ad no more comprehensible, whatsoever.

 

8. Lonely man in basement with dog

And file this classic Dow ad under "a little too realistic, maybe." It pictures a guy drinking alone in his poorly lit basement workshop, petting his dog.

When your wife says "pick the booze or pick me," think of this guy, then maybe cut back on the Dow a bit, fellas.

"Nice puppy. You're a good dog, aren't you, boy?

"Yup, just you and me here, huh, fella?"

Yoiks.







7. Pride comes shining through
Okay, this may be a father and son... but... really? These guys look the same age and aside from everything else in this picture, how about that V-neck sweater?

It was very progressive of Miller to use this ad sometime in the '80's, we think. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course! It's just that... we don't think Miller meant this the way it actually looks.

 

6. AWOL on Alcohol
Doing what this World War II Heineken ad says, would get most servicemen shot by a firing squad.

But if he drank that whole case he might not really know what hit him?













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5. Recycling is for tee-totalling pussies

In the early days of beer bottling, it was a selling point if you didn't have to recycle the bottle. Because taking care of the environment is about as silly as taking care of your liver, isn't it?

Note that this isn't just glass but "Dura-glass," so it presumably lasted longer... in landfills.

 

4. They're giant beer glasses floating through the air



Son (shielding his eyes, looking skyward): "Hey, Pa, what do you think those weird flying things are?"
Pa: "Git my shotgun, son."
Son: "But, Pa, aint you had a few beers? Isn't that dangerous?"
Pa: "Ya, son (points upward), but that's more dangerous."

 

3. Boys shall not be boys

Okay, there's nothing terribly weird about this prohibition poster. It's just wrong. And not just because it's a prohibition poster.

This was what prohibition was all about: keeping men as little baby boys who met their mother's approval. This mother wants her boy to remain toddler-innocent... for the rest of his life? It turns out to be emblematic of how unrealistic everything about prohibition was.

 

2. Bar in the front seat of your car

Because if it was in the back seat that might be dangerous.

So whatever happened to the Bock Auto Bar Company? Why did they fail?

"You'll laugh at dusty roads." And paved roads...

And sidewalks...

And canals...

 

1. We Want Beer

Just a classic public domain proclamation that should be used in at least one beer ad every year, if we had our way...