Squirt - Good Staff Artists

I don't know if Squirt used staff artists or... actually, I'm pretty sure they just hired an advertising company who used THEIR own staff artists for this ad. Doesn't matter. There is brilliant work in here.
1954 was still the middle of the golden age of advertising mascots. Also, it was the golden age of advertising, in this irrelevant nobody's opinion. You know... post-war optimism and a healthy economy make for some upbeat, irrationally happy ads.

This ad features two very different kinds of mascot art: abstract minimalism and disney-style. The one at the top, with the inverted black/white colors is a beautiful example of the abstract drawing style from the 50's. He's got no hands or feet and his head is a teardrop. If you click on the close-up of him below, you can see that the line around his head is kind of chalky. I can't explain why that's cool, but it is.

The other mascot, down below, is squirt boy. It shouldn't be impressive, but he was actually drawn by someone who knows how to draw cartoon characters! Take a walk down the cereal aisle of your grocery store and you'll see monstrous examples of badly-drawn over-rendered characters. Too many lines, wonky posing, clueless line tapering, and lumpy, bulbous designs are par for the course. Squirt boy looks good! Of course, this isn't too surprising, since advertising artists were, as a rule, trained in illustration back then. Now, they're mostly technicians and it shows.

At the bottom is a great black and white painting of a happy fisherman enjoying some squirt. Ignoring all common sense that sugar water is terrible for quenching thirst (a fact that soda companies still choose to ignore to this day), I cna only guess that the man is included as a serving suggestion for the type of face you might choose to make while you're enjoying your own glass of Squirt. Also, there's a great, cheesy spot color added, just for some zazz.

Seven Up - The Weenie Feed

Jeffy was determined that this year wasn't going to be like last year. He knew now that he should stay away from the lobster. It's hard to ask for a date when your trachea is swelling shut. Gasp! There she was, just coming in the door!

"H- Hi, Becky! It's great to see you outside of school!" She looked nervous, like she was looking around for familiar faces. She smiled when he spoke to her, but he couldn't help but notice that she kept scanning the crowd afterwards.

Mom and Dad had allowed him to invite two friends from school, and he had chosen Becky and Skip. Jeffy was pretty sure that Skip didn't like girls yet, so he wouldn't try to distract Becky.

After a few minutes of talk, Jeffy remembered to compliment her dress. "I will now compliment your dress." he began. "It looks like you're emerging from a green sofa, which is a thing that I like, sofas, I mean, which means I also like your dress, heh heh." So far so good! "How bout a drink? My parents gave me a case of Seven Up for Arbor Day, and I've been saving it for a special occasion. Hey, look! The bottles are green like your sofa dress! Isn't that kinda funny? Ha-ha-heh."

Jeffy grabbed a couple of bottles and got the caps off with his teeth, like Skip had showed him. Ow. It hurt. This was big. If she drank from a bottle whose top had been in his mouth, that was almost like kissing her! Incredible! She accepted the bottle right away. No funny looks! This was going great!

"Are you hungry, Becky? Here.. let me get you a mini weenie." Jeffy fumbled the first mini weenie into the prawn dip. Boy, was he nervous. The second one was steadier in his hand. "Here B-Becky, let me help you." She was smiling! This was great! Letting him feed her a mini weenie was like... was like... almost as if she symbolically were agreeing to....! No time to think about it now! Just concentrate on not poking her in the gums with the toothpick. His heart was pounding. He hoped she couldn't tell. Here goes! Wait. Was someone touching his leg? He hoped it was Becky!

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Becky looked around. This party was not what she had been expecting. The only two kids from school apart from Jeffy was Skip. They looked identical for chrissakes, but one was a sweaty dork and the other never talked to her. This would be an early night. Just long enough for one crisp, refreshing Seven Up and she could make an excuse, and then go. Oh for... Jeffy was offering her one of those little stubby hot dogs. Eew. As if! Fine, if it'll let her feign food poisoning long enough to get out the door. "Okay, just use the fake smile you learned for cheerleading and get the hell out of here" she told herself. One thing was totally for sure. That hot dog was just a hot dog.