16 Jun 2007

Watneys Wall

Yesterday I visited the History of Advertising Trust (HAT). I came across a funny old poster for Watney’s Ale.  It was a parody of the painted ad format and of painted political slogans and was done in 1938 by an advertising agency called Horrocks and Company. This picture from the October 1938 edition of ‘The Poster’ magazine shows the original ad.

Apparently people said of it:

• “Clever advert this”
• “Jolly good stunt”
• “I wonder how they think of these ideas!”

A later edition of ‘The Poster’ from January 1939 features a claim by agency Horrocks and Company in an ad for themselves that it was the most successful poster of 1938! There is some evidence for this in the number of entries received into a competition asking bar customers to write their own slogans for Watney’s Wall. I haven’t yet been able to locate any of the prize entries.

• HAT
• Research
• Watneys