Exhibit shows that Guinness makes ads with a good pint

Guinness has been credited with some of the world’s most iconic advertising and, says Ed Power, its quality hasn’t faltered since it launched its first advertisement, to the chagrin of its owner, in 1929

A MAN dancing around a beer glass, waves crashing against the shore, an exotic bird with a rainbow beak — as advertising, these images sound banal. Mad Men’s Don Draper might arch an eye-brow before coming up with a far cleverer idea.

Yet, from such apparently unpromising ingredients has beer-maker Guinness spun marketing gold. A new exhibition at its Dublin Storehouse tourist centre makes this plain. The number of iconic Guinness ads is striking. The story of 20th century advertising in Ireland — and Britain, where the company’s key marketing decisions were made — is in many ways the story of Guinness.