Artifact: When Ads Campaign

Reason ^ | July 2004 | Charles Paul Freund

[neverdem]

July 2004 Artifact: When Ads Campaign Charles Paul Freund Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City and the most prominent Puritan since Cotton Mather, is the unseen villain in a remarkable TV ad campaign for Rheingold Beer. These images are from "Cabaret," one of three 30-second spots that make up the beer’s "Don’t Sleep" campaign. According to the Rheingold Web site, the campaign challenges Bloomberg’s "attempts to ‘San Francisco-fy’ the city," presumably by trying to file away New York’s rough edges. "Cabaret" features quick cuts of New Yorkers dancing freely on the sidewalks and in a bar despite the city’s draconian dancing law. "Crate" addresses the city’s bizarre policy of fining people who sit on upended milk crates. "Ashtray" features smokers who bring their own ashtrays into the city’s now-smokeless bars and slam them down assertively. "This is New York," brags the Beat-like voice-over, "and we can’t sleep ’til we take it back." Bloomberg wasn’t happy about the campaign, calling Rheingold "a company that walked out on this city 30 years ago." But as the New York Daily News remembered, Rheingold shut down its Brooklyn brewery in 1974 because it was then too broke to bottle its beer. Anyway, as Rheingold’s CEO responded, the campaign is really "all about freedom of choice." You gotta problem with dat, mayor? react@reason.com

[neverdem]

You can look at the ads at Reason here. For whatever reason their HTML or whatever code they're using, it doesn't show the images of the ads.

[neverdem]

Let me know if you want on oroff my NY ping list.

[jocon307]

My beer is Rheingold the dry beer.
Think of Rheingold whenever you buy beer.
It's not bitter, not sweet, it's the extra dry treat --
Won't you try extra dry Rheingold beer?

[neverdem]

LOL

[cavan]

I haven't enjoyed examining the "platforms" of any
candidates as much as the Miss Rheingold contestants.

[jocon307]

I hear they are bringing back "Miss Subways" too.

Oh for NY in the early 60s! Oh to have lived there in the late 40s and 1950s! How hubby and I envy our own parents for that. At least I got to experience a bit of it, being born in 1958. It was so great, before the "real" 1960s ruined everything, esp. in NY and other big cities.