The History of the Advertisement of Beer

The history of the advertisement of beer is a long tale since beer has been with us almost since man learned to make fermented beverages. Many stories throughout history talk about beer and beer like products. But until recently (historically speaking), beer was just a product made locally and distributed locally through pubs, inns and ale houses. Advertising was unnecessary since much of life centred around the inns as a place to get and spread information.
As populations grew and became more decentralized and news became more readily available through printed media like newspapers and magazines, the importance of pubs and inns grew less. At the same time, production of beer was migrating from being a series of local operations to a few very large entities making massive amounts of beer and using innovative packaging and distribution networks to distribute it globally. To keep their companies growing, they needed to advertise their products to ensure that they kept (and even captured more) market share and also to grow market share by building images that would induce people to drink beer and get the same benefits in their life intimated by the advertising pitches.
The birth of sophisticated advertising of beer began shortly after prohibition ended. At that time, the efforts were very cautious. Many changes were occurring in America. Prohibition ended. Television was just starting to grow a viewership base. Advertising on television was a very new and uncertain endeavor. Public opinion about the advertising of beer to a general audience was very mixed.
Against this backdrop, the first efforts to advertise beer on television were very timid - consisting of mostly late night sponsored shows followed by numerous surveys to be sure the commercial efforts were not causing a backlash against the beer companies. Through this initial period of timidity, the beer advertisers learned something very important. The majority of early television sets were located in...