Advertising the Brewery

Bright to the last drop…

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Reffells Bexley Brewery issued a number of advertisements over the years, and some of these would probably not be very acceptable nowadays!

As was typical of those days, early advertising was text driven and informative about the types of beer produced, how much they cost and with an emphasis on the ‘purity’ of the Gold Medal winning beers. That began to change around the 1910s with the ability to create images in the local newspapers. The main slogan used was ‘Bright to the Last Drop’ and this was used for many decades.

With the advent of images, use was made of characters in the early days of working class type, wearing flat caps and working clothes. At the time of the First World War, there was advertising in French and Flemish intended to especially appeal to those displaced to Kent from Belgium.

During the 1920s and 1930s along came the very chummy Uncle Reff who was clearly of a more upper class type, often wearing a top hat and formal clothes. He is depicted in many guises and often with a number of friendly types, including nephew Knut Browne.

Adapting to the spirit of wartime south east England with the Battle of Britain taking place overhead, the advertising changed to more morale-boosting anti-German depictions. It is interesting to note that the Shepherd Neame Brewery is still using the phrase ‘Bottle of Britain’ in their long-running Spitfire beer campaign….

Another type of advertising was to promote what we would now call the brand image was through various breweriana.