Today, I turned my studies toward alcohol advertising through the ages and the way it has evolved to become the tightly restricted and highly controversial product that it is in modern day. I started my search in the 1940's where I found this advertisement for Budweiser. The Ad encourages you to indulge in the product for at least 5 straight days, promoting a long term abuse of alcohol alongside the encourage to wives that filling your 'icebox' with Budweiser will 'give the busy man-about-town the urge to become a gracious man-about-home'. As well as promoting the homeward wife as a slave to her husband this advertisment talks about the man of the house as the 'hero', giving the male audience and no doubt target audience for the ad the smug boost that he will no doubt appreciate. The slogan to the beer also acts as a metaphore - relating the beer to life. It reads 'Live Life.. Every Golden Minute Of It.. Enjoy Budweiser .. Every Golden Drop Of It'
Next is the turn of the 1950's, a very important era in the celebration of no more war - we are now a peaceful and very 'typically british' country enjoying our victory with our parties and our women. This ad for John Smith's Magnet Pale Ale uses the recent explotation of women in order to sell the alen using the phrase 'a magnet for me'. This plays on the alcoholic tendency to make you more confident as well as socially successful.
And then onto the 1960's. Another Budweiser advert this time also playing up to the explotation of women in recent years. This ad uses the slogan 'Pick a pair' with a pretty young woman standing just behind a stack of beers that happen to go up to chest height. Co-incidence? I think not.
