2RossSkyler Ross5/6/2015HIST 128J: Beer in American HistoryWindmills and Wooden Clogs: The Marketing of Heineken Beer from 1945-1970

In Season Two, Episode Eight of AMCs Mad Men, advertising expert Don Draper must pitch a brand new marketing strategy to the executives at Heineken. In his attempts to define the brand, he proposes placing large displays of the product in suburban supermarkets for housewives to see while shopping for groceries. The executives at Heineken want to try a different marketing strategy, as they believe that their ideal target market is not the suburban well-to-do housewife as Draper claims. To allay their concerns, Draper launches an experiment that involves duping his wife Betty through one of these displays by playing on her aspiration to worldliness.[footnoteRef:2] It works. The Drapers host a dinner party featuring food and beverage items from all over the world, and Betty serves Heineken beer to the guests alongside wine from France, gazpacho from Spain, and rumaki from Japan. Betty, a metaphor for all suburban housewives, is humiliated when she finds out about the scheme. Part of her anger stems from her disinterest in being the subject of other peoples games. She and women like her were the constant targets of food and beverage advertising throughout the postwar period as they ran households and raised children.[footnoteRef:3] But while Mad Men uses Heineken as an example of average beer advertising, the drinks status as an imported beer intended for elites warrants special consideration of it. [2: Jennifer Gillan, Kodak, Jack, and Coke: Advertising and Mad-Vertising, in Analyzing Mad Men: Critical Essays on the Television Series, edited by Scott F. Stoddart (Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, 2011), 107.] [3: Nathan Michael Corzine, Right at Home: Freedom and Domesticity in the Language and Imagery of Beer Advertisements, 1933-1960, Journal of Social History 43, no. 4 (June 2010): 84366.]

Between the 1950s and the 1970s, Heineken produced a series of advertisements that buck the trend in beer advertising. Whereas most breweries and beer companies tried to depict their beers in American advertisements as integral to the proper functioning of the family unit, Heinekens advertisements in this period rarely, if ever, do so. Rather, appeals to novelty, masculinity, nationalism, and prestige dominate the visual imagery and language surrounding these advertisements. Heinekens ads grew in maturity during this period. Whereas throughout much of the 1950s they depicted cartoonish figures and caricatures of Dutch cultural objects, by the 1970s the beers advertisements focused on presenting Heineken as the epitome of clean, European masculinity. In the process, the beer had to shed its specifically Dutch identity. This narrative presents the marketing tactics of Heineken as separate and distinct from the marketing tactics of the greater beer industry. The advertisements of other premium beers in this era, such as National Brewing Companys National Premium beer, show a highly competitive approach to marketing domestic premium beers. The strategy of these brewers was to deemphasize the link that Heineken had established between importation and prestige. This discussion is informative on several levels. From an economic perspective, it demonstrates how market segmentation was a worthwhile strategy for companies looking to grow. This advertising strategy involves splitting a large market into smaller units in order to directly appeal to one or a few of them. In the case of Heineken, the beer was intended solely for elites and cosmopolitan-types, not the average man. From a political perspective, it reflects changing attitudes toward foreign countries, immigrants, and xenophobia. And from a cultural perspective, it reflects a changing aesthetic within American culture, where different had the potential to be the new in.Since its founding in 1864, Heineken has grown into one of the most powerful American import beers.[footnoteRef:4] America and the Heineken Company have a strong relationship, with more than one-fourth of the companys global sales coming from the Americas and much of that consumption being in the United States.[footnoteRef:5] For the worlds third-largest brewer by sales, that is both a significant volume and a significant proportion of revenue.[footnoteRef:6] At the same time, the cultural landscape of the United States is necessarily impacted by the continued presence of Heineken. As an object of material culture, Heineken beer is consumed as the result of a complex relationship between personal taste and the larger sociocultural forces that shape it. One such force is the presence, form, and character of marketing. [4: Our History (The Heineken Company, n.d.), http://www.theheinekencompany.com/about-us/our-history.] [5: The Americas-Regional Performance (The Heineken Company, n.d.), http://www.theheinekencompany.com/about-us/our-global-presence/the-americas#view=markets&region=3.] [6: Maarten Van Tartwijk, Heineken Sees Profit Rise, The Wall Street Journal, April 22, 2015, http://www.wsj.com/articles/heineken-sees-profit-rise-1429685715.]

The complexities of this relationship date to the beers earliest days in the United States. Philip van Munching introduced Heineken to American consumers several days after Prohibition officially ended in 1933. Over the course of his tenure as Heinekens exclusive American importer, he developed unique tactics that presented Heineken as a special product, or the champagne of beers.[footnoteRef:7] Whereas most beers sold in the United States at the time appealed to the commonalities shared among men, Heineken operated under the belief that its higher cost and foreign nature would most greatly appeal to those Americans who were seeking cosmopolitanism. In other words, Heineken was a beer for those who had taste and could afford a European beer.[footnoteRef:8] As such, van Munching worked to have Heineken sold only in upper class venues.[footnoteRef:9] He would arrive at a restaurant or bar that did not currently stock Heineken, yet order one anyway. When he was of course denied, he would be very vocal about his disappointment. Later on in the day, a Heineken salesman would arrive with a pack of the precious beer and a contract proposal.[footnoteRef:10] Of course, van Munching utilized other tactics as well. But the notoriety of his performances demonstrates both their potential to raise awareness of Heineken and their success in getting Heineken sold in more establishments. Moreover, this tactic could be used in carefully chosen spaces, which were often selected for reasons of class. [7: Barbara Smit, The Heineken Story: The Remarkably Refreshing Tale of the Beer That Conquered the World (London: Profile Books, 2014), 38.] [8: Ibid., 40.] [9: Ibid., 40.] [10: Ibid., 39.]

Heinekens strategy in the United States contrasts with the strategy the company used in other parts of the world, reflecting how the American market was perceived as unique. In the United States, Heineken sold its flagship product and attempted to influence American consumers through advertising it in particular ways. On the other hand, the company was prone to creating new products for other expansion regions. Between 1932 and 1949, Heineken created at least three new lagers in specific geographic regions in order to appeal specifically to local tastes. The first of these new products was Tiger Beer, which was created in Malaysia in 1932. The Heineken Company followed by creating Bintang Beer in Indonesia in 1937 and STAR in Africa in 1949.[footnoteRef:11] Moreover, the distinct qualities of Heinekens American marketing strategy were reinforced as they proved to be successful. Between 1950 and 1951, U.S. sales figures increased 49 percent from 3,087,336 bottles sold in 1950 to 4,608,000 bottles sold in 1951.[footnoteRef:12] Van Munching was personally rewarded for this success. As early as 1953, he was receiving lavish gifts from the Heineken executives in the Netherlands, and Heineken stock was yielding huge dividends as a result of the booming cross-Atlantic trade.[footnoteRef:13] Production expanded, too, as Heineken constructed new breweries to accommodate this increased demand.[footnoteRef:14] The impetus for much of this expansion was likely growth of the American market. The boom in Heineken consumption in the early 1950s yielded advertisements that reflected the companys view of what American consumers would want to see in the product. [11: Our History.; Official Website of Nigerian Breweries PLC, n.d. http://nbplc.com/our_company.html.] [12: Heinekens Sales Up 49, New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962), January 14, 1952, 1322441686, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Tribune / Herald Tribune.] [13: HEINEKENS DIVIDEND 9%: Dutch Brewery Aide Reports Substantial Rise in Profits. The New York Times. March 15, 1953. http://search.proquest.com/docview/112565120?accountid=15172.] [14: Heineken Plans New Brewery, Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current File), December 2, 1969, 133348762, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Wall Street Journal; Heineken Adds Dutch Brewery, New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962), September 11, 1958, 1327297120, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Tribune / Herald Tribune.]

To the extent that van Munchings tactics might be considered socially immature, the printed advertisements for Heineken from the early 1950s through the mid-1960s reflect a similarly puerile quality. One advertisement that ran in numerous publications during this period features a caricature of a Dutch individual smiling, smoking a pipe, wearing wooden clogs, and leaning against an oversized bottle of Heineken beer (see Figure 1). The person and the bottle are physically located right next to a custom Heineken glass that could be purchased in sets of six, imported directly from Holland.[footnoteRef:15] The ad relies on xenophobic stereotypes to portray Heineken as a novelty item, and indeed, the custom beer glasses were sold as part of a lineup of Heineken-themed Dutch cultural objects. Others included ceramic statues, windmill displays, and wooden clogs.[footnoteRef:16] In using a cartoonish Dutch figure, in making that figure diminutive, and in having the figure wear clogs, the ad creates a uniformly simplistic view of Dutch people and culture. It attempts to present Heineken as collectible, as an ornament that can be bought and shown off. The kitschy aesthetic is supposed to be cute, which is reinforced through the rhyme in the ads copy: Heinekens Heinekens Heinekens Beer / A Treasure of Pleasure from Holland to Here![footnoteRef:17] [15: Display Ad 120 -- No Title, Boston Globe (1960-1983), July 29, 1962, 276443337, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe.] [16: Smit, The Heineken Story: The Remarkably Refreshing Tale of the Beer That Conquered the World, 50.] [17: Ibid.]

That copy signifies the unique combination of foreignness, prestige, and kitsch that was characteristic of Heinekens position within the American beer market in the early postwar period. Through highlighting the Dutch qualities of the beer, Heineken was attractive to those who were looking to try something new. One ad (Figure 2) from the late 1950s positions Heineken as a global drink with strong roots in Holland. It draws upon stereotypical connections between windmills and the Dutch countryside by depicting four glass Heineken bottles arranged like windmill blades, with a representation of the globe behind them to serve as the windmill tower. Perhaps reflecting popular taste preferences for beer at the time, the circular describes Heineken as having unmatched flavor and lightness which has made it Americas largest selling imported beer. Moreover, those preferences are said to be global in nature: From Bombay to L.A. people of taste prefer Heinekens. This ad is not particularly plebeian in tone and carries with it an air of snobbery. Rather than inviting all readers to take part in a global tradition, the ad welcomes only those readers who care about prestige and who can afford to frequent restaurants, bars and stores where quality counts.[footnoteRef:18] Another ad (Figure 3) from 1960 explicitly references the finer restaurants, bars and clubs at which Heineken might be served. The ad literally serves Heineken to the cultured reader on a platter, alongside a figurine of a Dutch person.[footnoteRef:19] [18: Display Ad 257 -- No Title, Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File), November 3, 1957, 167173122, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times.] [19: Classified Ad 21 -- No Title, New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962), June 19, 1960, 1324091377, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Tribune / Herald Tribune.]

Perhaps this snobbery in advertising is why Heinekens import efforts were not particularly profitable until the late 1950s, despite the huge growths in sales that had begun earlier in the decade. Ignorance may also have contributed to this situation. Having been marketed as a uniquely Dutch beer, Heineken may have inadvertently limited its sales because many Americans had little idea of what Holland was. Despite the recent memory of World War II, a study conducted by the breweries embarrassingly revealed that pitching Heineken as a Dutch beer was a complete waste of time because the average US punter was unashamedly ignorant of European geography. Most thought that Heineken was imported from Germany.[footnoteRef:20] Quite simply, it did not matter to most Americans where Heineken originated. The important thing is that it was from Europe, that it was imported, and that it was different than every other beer. Even though Heineken was marketed with prestige and gentility in mind, its potential for growth was limited because specific knowledge was prerequisite for consumption. [20: Smit, The Heineken Story: The Remarkably Refreshing Tale of the Beer That Conquered the World, 50.]

Beginning in the late 1950s, Heinekens ads began shifting away from prominent and explicit references to Dutch culture. These signifiers of Dutch origin were replaced by signifiers of European origin more broadly in order to appeal to a more inclusive audience. One ad (Figure 4) shows a Heineken bottle that is being transported to an unknown location (presumably the United States) in a rowboat. The ad reads, Heinekens Beerthe unhurried Dutch treat, turning the relative inefficiency of rowboat travel into a source of pride.[footnoteRef:21] In this ad, Heineken was portraying the beer as a carefully crafted luxury, and images of Dutch culture beyond the Heineken bottle itself would have been superfluous to that goal. Another ad (Figure 5) depicts a bottle of Heineken within a ships porthole, as if it were on its way to the United States on a first class [trip] from Holland. In the distant background is the ads only Dutch signifier, a windmill that almost goes unnoticed at first glance. All other mention of internationality relies on the name Holland only, rather than on visual or cultural imagery. The vague nature of the ad shows Heinekens desire to continue using perceptions of foreignness while avoiding the didacticism that comes with being too Dutch.[footnoteRef:22] This ad ran throughout the country, and it received slightly modified copy in each region. For example, when it ran in The Los Angeles Times in 1957, it read: The West Coasts favorite comes first class from Holland.[footnoteRef:23] When it ran in the Chicago Daily Tribune, the copy was modified to reference the Midwest rather than the west coast.[footnoteRef:24] In each iteration, the ad highlights the strength of the relationship between a foreign product and various domestic geographic regions. While the specificity of the American qualities of Heinekens ads increased, the specificity of the beers native European qualities decreased during the same time period. [21: Display Ad 825 -- No Title, New York Times (1923-Current File), November 17, 1957, 114305722, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times.] [22: Display Ad 711 -- No Title, New York Times (1923-Current File), November 3, 1957, 114307204, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times.] [23: Display Ad 282 -- No Title, Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File), November 24, 1957, 167145341, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times.] [24: Display Ad 225 -- No Title, Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963), October 20, 1957, 180253781, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune.]

Along these lines, one notable ad (Figure 6) from the mid-1960s simply shows a pair of wooden clogs and a bottle of Heineken. The image drops most pretensions to class and gender while creating a clear ethos of foreignness around the beer. The ad is clean, simple, streamlined, and bold. The strong use of negative space draws increased attention to the Heineken bottle that is at the forefront of the image. The wooden clog, as a principal Dutch cultural artifact, is in the background. While still prominent, the shape of the clog draws the readers eye toward the bottle, which lies at the high point of the clogs design.[footnoteRef:25] Another mid-1960s ad even leaves out the clogs, instead showing a bottle of Heineken resting inside of a tall-stemmed glass. While the words HOLLANDS PROUD BREW rest below the image and the bottle has a large label that reads IMPORTED, the ad is totally devoid of other overt references to Dutch culture.[footnoteRef:26] Another late 1950s ad is similarly lacking in the presence of Dutch cultural icons. The image is simply a picture of a Heineken bottle with copy that reads: Theyre still making masterpieces in Holland[footnoteRef:27] Such an ad relies on the assumption that Americans would recognize Holland as a superior place for beer manufacturing. The simplicity of this ad might mean that Heineken was looking to appeal to a larger consumer base by eliminating the more confusing marketing elements. This sanitization may be the product of the changing character of xenophobia in the United States. The cartoonish nature of earlier ads demonstrated a willingness to expose oneself to foreign cultures, yet pejoratively streamlined them so that the Dutchness of the product might be more easily expressed. [25: Display Ad 154 -- No Title, New York Times (1923-Current File), August 8, 1965, 116952030, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times.] [26: Display Ad 33 -- No Title, The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973), May 12, 1965, 142672594, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post.] [27: Display Ad 248 -- No Title, New York Times (1923-Current File), May 4, 1958, 114353730, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times.]

The characteristics of kitsch and cute that were consistent throughout Heinekens early postwar ads are not too dissimilar to the domestic beer television ads that were common at the time. A YouTube search for 1950s beer ads yields several examples of musicalized cartoons from brewers such as Rheingold, Black Label, and Ballantine. However, there is another distinct trend in domestic beer advertising that emphasized familial bonding and homegrown masculinity. As in the case of Betty Draper from Mad Men, women of the era purchased food and drink at the local supermarket for their husbands to consume once they arrived home.[footnoteRef:28] The beers they purchased were produced domestically, for the most part, and beer manufacturers created ads that reflect a highly gendered dynamic. Corzine writes, [28: Corzine, Right at Home: Freedom and Domesticity in the Language and Imagery of Beer Advertisements, 1933-1960, 846.]

For men, the ads summoned them to drink, be manly and be American. Good times were waiting. For women, the ads represented a symphony of complications and contradictions. They were being offered a ticket into a world heretofore belonging to men, but the price of admission was steep. Sure, women could drink, but the advertisements also delimited the place and manner of the act.[footnoteRef:29] [29: Corzine, Right at Home: Freedom and Domesticity in the Language and Imagery of Beer Advertisements, 1933-1960, 844.]

As Corzine notes, domestic ads in the postwar period linked beer with gender, nationalism, and social policing of who could drink under what circumstances. For example, domestic breweries were emphasizing the importance of their products to the well being of womens husbands as early as 1940, linking domestic happiness to the presence of a particular beer. One Budweiser ad paints a portrait of a happy husband through the image of a man reading a newspaper and smoking a cigar while drinking a beer.[footnoteRef:30] This man is the epitome of relaxation, connecting Budweiser to manliness and leisure, as well as to domestic contentment. This is typical for domestic beer ads throughout the postwar and early Cold War periods. [30: Portrait of a Happy Husband (Budweiser, 1940), http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/beer-in-ads-576-portrait-of-a-happy-husband-by-a-smart-wife/.]

Heinekens advertising began to take on similar qualities to these domestic marketing tactics. For instance, as Heinekens Dutch characteristics grew less significant in the beers advertising, its appeals to American nationalism grew. Heineken delights the U.S.A. every day! is the claim of one late 1950s ad[footnoteRef:31] This statement is a reminder to previous Heineken consumers that they are familiar with the beer and liked it in the past. It is also an appeal to potential new consumers who might be drawn in by claims that the beer is appreciated by their American friends and neighbors. Printed during the height of the Cold War, this ad would have a great impact on those who were concerned for the safety of their country. Another ad (Figure 7) that was widely circulated for the 1958 Brussels Worlds Fair is similarly related to Heinekens attempts to position the drink as an integral part of American culture. In this ad, Heineken is described as being the only European beer served in the American pavilion of the Worlds Fair in large letters above the image. Only directly below that text, in italicized characters and much smaller type, does the ad acknowledge the importance of the beverage to the Netherlands by characterizing it as the only beer served at the Netherlands Pavilion![footnoteRef:32] In the context of the American market, it was important for Heineken to depict itself as an American commodity, even as it remained an imported product. [31: Display Ad 272 -- No Title, Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File), August 16, 1959, 167485644, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times.] [32: Display Ad 233 -- No Title, Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963), September 14, 1958, 182175758, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune.]

Tied into these appeals to nationalism are subtle hints at nostalgia. An ad from the late 1940s claims that Heineken is of the same high quality that made it Americas most popular imported beer as in the past.[footnoteRef:33] In linking these two qualitiesnationalism and nostalgiathe ads attempt to recall a longer past than was reality. Heineken had only been in the United States for approximately 15 years at the time of this ads publication, yet the ad attempts to make the beers presence seem much more historical than it actually was. Still, in an age of massive national insecurity, with World War II still a recent memory and the Soviet Union posing an ongoing threat, the past would have seemed almost quaint and relaxed. The ad alleges that Heineken has a traditional popularity within the United States. In the process, the reader might be reminded that his parents and grandparentsprobably his father and grandfatherhad drunk Heineken and enjoyed Heineken for the same reasons that he might, if only he were to try it. [33: Display Ad 99 -- No Title, New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962), November 14, 1947, 1322180779, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Tribune / Herald Tribune.]

As in domestic beer ads, nationalism was closely linked to masculinity. By the early 1960s, Heineken was attempting to adopt this more masculine image by focusing on more realistic pictures of men, as opposed to the cartoonish figures of an earlier era. The men featured in these ads were incredibly clean, almost absurdly so. Chiseled jawlines, high cheekbones, and stern faces dominate these images to create a sense of elite polish. Whereas some male-gendered products relied on depictions of rugged athleticism to reinforce associations with masculinity, Heinekens men look varnished and dapper. One striking ad (Figure 8) from the mid- to late 1960s shows a man wearing a well-pressed suit reading a newspaper and drinking a bottle of Heineken beer. The significance of the image would not be lost on the male reader, who could imagine himself looking just as in control. At the same time, the ad depicts leisurely activity that is calm and relaxing. Just as in the 1940 Budweiser ad, the man is depicted reading a newspaper. The ads copy invites the reader to join in this relaxation, commanding him to Take a little more time with Heineken.[footnoteRef:34] This ad tells the reader that perusing a newspaper while drinking a Heineken is the key to being that man. [34: Display Ad 115 -- No Title, Chicago Tribune (1963-Current File), July 12, 1964, 179530472, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune.]

Of course, the ad relies on the assumption that many would want to be that man. As a result, it closely links Heineken and prestige. The subject of the ad is wearing a full suit, in contrast to the 1940 Budweiser ad whose subject is sitting in a chair with his suit jacket not shown. The Heineken ad seems to be for the man who is taking a break whereas the Budweiser ad is intended for the man who is done for the day. Notions of prestige also come from the text of the ad, which emphasizes Heinekens lengthy aging process and how the beer is imported from Holland. As a beer intended for elites, Heineken was more expensive. In Washington, D.C. in 1974, a case of Heineken cost $10.99, which is the equivalent of $52.32 today.[footnoteRef:35] The only people who could afford to drink Heineken were those who could afford to frequent the upper class establishments that van Munching had lobbied when Heineken was first imported into the United States. In this sense, the ad in Figure 8 implies that only a select few could be the man shown. [35: Display Ad 12 -- No Title, The Washington Post (1974-Current File), October 3, 1974, 146109424, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post; Inflation Calculator (The Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d.), http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm.]

These appeals to nationalism, nostalgia, masculinity, and prestige were not universally well received. A 1977 piece by Peter A. Jay summarizes this pushback:The name of the bar doesnt matterNow it has fake Tiffany lamps, and the clientele, mostly young and with plenty to spend, drinks Heineken or chablis-on-the-rocks instead of National Bohemian. If it were magically transplanted to some other place where there are large concentrations of students or well-aid government workersnobody walking in off the street would notice anything odd.[footnoteRef:36] [36: Peter A. Jay, The Heineken Generation: The Name of the Bar Doesnt Matter., The Sun, April 1, 1977, http://search.proquest.com/docview/541144128?accountid=15172.]

Describing the loss of specificity and regional culture in an Annapolis bar, Jay is disdainful of the increasing gentrification he sees in Annapolis. One expression of this gentrification is through the alcoholic beverages that people in Annapolis were choosing to consume. Jays use of Heineken as a cursory example of this gentrification is interesting in the context of Heinekens marketing in this era because it demonstrates the extent to which that marketing was successful. Jay did not need to explain what Heineken was or who typically consumed it; he could safely assume that his readers would associate the beverage with an elite clientele and particular upper class social spaces. Jays piece also demonstrates how the very characteristics that Heineken used to appeal to consumers might alienate them. For instance, Jay writes, Annapolis, since it became hip as well as historic, is not what it was.[footnoteRef:37] This evokes nostalgia similar to that in Heinekens ads, yet perceives it in a negative light as a result of dissatisfaction with social change. The rise of Heineken in Jays bar is an example of that change. [37: Ibid.]

Perhaps coincidentally, the other beer that Jay mentions as Heinekens more working-class alternative was manufactured by a company that also produced an upper class beer called National Premium, which competed directly with Heineken. First brewed by the Baltimore-based National Brewing Company in 1936, National Premium was always intended to be the more elite cousin to National Bohemian. In the 1940s, National Premium sold for 15 cents per bottle, whereas National Bohemian cost 10 cents per bottle.[footnoteRef:38] By the 1970s, the National Brewing Company, like most smaller brewers, had attempted to expand in order to stay relevant. The brewing industry was well into a national consolidation, and many small and regional breweries that had survived both stagnant demand and the national giants power seized on merger as a way to gain strength through diversity.[footnoteRef:39] The National Brewing Company purchased an olive oil company, Arizona Brewing in 1966, and Carling brewery in 1975.[footnoteRef:40] National Brewing also emphasized the diversification of its product line through advertising. [38: The Story | National Premium (National Premium, n.d.), http://www.nationalpremiumbeer.com/the-story/.] [39: Maureen Ogle, Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer (Orlando: Harcourt, 2006), 244.] [40: Ibid., 244-245.]

A series of three National Premium ads from 1969 demonstrates the position that premium domestic beers found themselves in. The first (Figure 9), printed in The New York Times in January, explains a taste-testing contest that National Brewing supposedly held to compare National Premium to three of the leading import beers, including Heineken. The ad is large and text-heavy, but the text is broken up by a very prominent bottle of National Premium and a stemmed glass that is presumably filled with the same. The text in the ad begins using ornate language to highlight the beers prestigious nature and mentions its domestic character outright: Whereinour proud premium brew from the U.S.A. comes to grips with the imported beers[footnoteRef:41] Heineken had positioned itself as a Dutch product that was intertwined with American identity. In this ad, National Premium highlighted its domestic nature in order to appeal to the readers sense of patriotism. In a sense, National Premium had an advantage in marketing Americanismit was actually American. The ad repeatedly claims that the participants in the taste test preferred National Premium to each of the three imports, which included Lowenbrau and Tuborg in addition to Heineken. The participants allegedly chose National Premium or insisted they liked it as well as Heineken, although there is no external source that can corroborate the ads claims. [41: Display Ad 302 -- No Title, New York Times (1923-Current File), January 19, 1969, 118551441, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times.]

The next ad to appear (Figure 10), from September 1969, draws upon the results of this taste test. This ad features a prominent image of the same National Premium bottle and glass from the January ad, but this time they are located at a harbor. The tagline of this second ad is, National Premium missed the boatand came in first, referring to the results of the taste test.[footnoteRef:42] The ad is possibly a response to Heinekens boat-themed ads from the late 1950s. In both examples, geography and travel are used, but to different ends. In Heinekens case, travel is supposed to be prestigious. In National Premiums case, travel is ridiculed. The ad plays on the notion that inherently linking foreignness with prestige is illogical. If a domestic beer can be as good as or better than an import beer, then the import beer is not improved simply by being from a different country. National Premiums ad asks the question quite bluntly: Does a beer need ocean passage to be a truly fine beer?[footnoteRef:43] [42: Display Ad 459 -- No Title, The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973), September 7, 1969, 143654640, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post.] [43: Ibid.]

In some ways, the third National Premium ad from 1969 (Figure 11) contradicts the implications of the second. Published in The Washington Post in October, this final advertisement claims that National Premium is so good that it should be exported.[footnoteRef:44] Such a statement relies on the very relationship between internationality and prestige that National Premium had combatted in the earlier ad. However, making this claim allows National Premium to create a strong argument that the beer is an American drink. The ad claims Europe will have to wait. National Premium has an obligation to American palates. The ad is telling readers that they should purchase National Premium because of its quality and because other people demand it, which is not unlike how Heineken tried to appeal to Americans sense of patriotism by alluding to a common bond that all Americans supposedly share.[footnoteRef:45] [44: Display Ad 514 -- No Title, The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973), October 12, 1969, 143658767, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post.] [45: Ibid.]

The marketing of National Premium implicitly relies on the previous work of Heineken in linking a product to various aspects of society, including class and prestige. Where the two differ, however, is in how each approaches the topic of internationality. By the late 1960s, Heinekens approach is to present a streamlined image of Dutch culture and use representations of it to signify heightened taste. On the other hand, National Premium as a domestic beer had to present itself as a homegrown product. National Premiums marketing strategy necessarily undermined Heinekens by attempting to weaken the link between importation and prestige. However, National Premium could also appeal to a sense of American nationalism in ways that Heineken could not. The success of National Premiums strategies was limited. National Premium was sold to various brewers several times through the 1970s and 1980s before production stopped completely in 1996. Production was revived in 2011, although the beers popularity remains limited.[footnoteRef:46] Heineken, of course, continued production and importation throughout. [46: The Story | National Premium.]

Between 1945 and 1970, the marketing tactics that Heineken used changed from trivialized and pejorative cartoons into more mature expressions of leisurely masculine and refined upper class identity. As domestic beer ads changed to portray the relaxed average man, Heinekens ads instead grew to depict Heineken beer as an incredibly important product. This pretentious quality was not without backlash, as Jay described in the late 1970s. But it still bore powerful implications for the rest of the premium beer industry, including the National Brewing Company, which overtly and explicitly attacked Heineken in order to increase market share during a period of turmoil within the brewing industry. The Heineken Company acknowledged that it would never be able to attract all Americans, but rather those who appreciated refinement and cosmopolitanism above violence and brazenness. Heineken would never be seen at a Super Bowl party or a baseball game, but rather at the dinner tables of those who wanted to experience something new. Betty Draper from Mad Men is just one such person.

Appendix of Images

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Figure 7Figure 8

Figure 10Figure 9Figure 11

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