Gilroy Advertising
John Gilroy (1898-1985) was recruited by the S.H, Benson’s advertising agency in the 1925. Benson’s ran the first ever advertising campaign for Guinness in 1929. John Gilroy is the mastermind behind some of the most legendary Guinness campaigns. Two of which ran concurrently for nearly thirty years.
My Goodness, My Guinness
The idea of using animals to advertise Guinness occurred to Gilroy after visiting the circus. While watching a performing sea-lion he entertained the curious thought that the animal would be smart enough to balance a glass of Guinness on its nose! It became the concept for one of the world's longest running advertising campaigns "My Goodness, My Guinness”. The hapless zookeeper, a caricature of Gilroy himself, watched over the family of animals which included an ostrich swallowing a Guinness, glass and all, a pelican with a beak full of bottles, a tortoise, a lion, bear, crocodile, kangaroo, giraffe, polar bear, gnu, kinkajou, penguin and, of course, most famous of all, the toucan.
Lovely Day for a Guinness
1935 The toucan (which actually started out as a pelican) was the first of the ‘Guinness Menagerie’ to appear in poster form. The theme of the ad was "Guinness -a- day", and it showed a pelican with seven pints of GUINNESS® balanced on its beak. It carried the rhyme: “A Wonderful bird is the Pelican, Its bill can hold more than its belly can, It can hold in its beak, Enough for a Week, I simply don't know how the hell he can”. This became altered by Dorothy L. Sayers who changed the bird (to a toucan) and the number of glasses of beer (to two) so that the actual ad which appeared was as follows: “If he can say as you can, Guinness is Good for You, How grand to be a Toucan, Just think what Toucan do.”
Admire Campaigns that Could have Been
The Guinness Archive holds the published works of John Gilroy but is also home to a significant collection of drafts and sketches for potential campaigns. The draft collections include posters, watercolour paintings and charcoal sketches. The painting here depicts three toucans flying in front of the Woolworth Building in New York City. It was part of a larger proposed campaign that featured toucans flying over the world's most recognisable landmarks.
