Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The Bottle of Britain

This weeks prompt on the Writers Island is Message in a Bottle. This week I'm doing something a little different!




The only message I ever get in a bottle is drink me! So after some thought and a couple of large ones, I decided to be a bit of a rebel and call my piece Message on a Bottle!

In September 2005 the Royal Air Force celebrated the 65th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. And to raise funds for the veterans of that most famous of all air battles, brewers Shepherd Neame started an advertising campaign called the Bottle of Britain and used images and slang expressions of the time. It proved so popular that it continues to this day with regular updated posters aimed at current events such as the Rugby World Cup.

Since 1990 ‘Sheps’ have produced Spitfire Bitter in the oldest brewery in the UK at Faversham in Kent. It’s proximity to the coast near Dover meant that many of the battles took place in the skies above the town, and still today, many of the residents are still there to retell their stories and recollections.

These adverts often sail pretty close to the wind, and although many of them have been referred to the Advertising Complaints Commission, most have made into the outside world.

I realise that many of the messages will go completely over the heads of many readers abroad, and for that I apologise. I hope you accept them in the spirit of which they were intended!



22 comments:

  1. The Best of British. Well done, sir.

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  2. Bloody good POst there Mate!
    Cheers..lol..

    Peace, Kai

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  3. Got the gist of it.These are something like the Amul butter ads in india which have become legendary--and which usually have their take on the current topic of interest.

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  4. ha ha "Only message i get from the bottle is drink me"
    awesome man :)

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  5. Agggh, someone nicked what I was going to say.........best of British GRIN. A cheeky post!

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  6. what a great take on this topic a wonderful post I love it. Thanks for sharing this and your words on my blog too kind thanks Keith love ya.

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  7. I live in Delhi but it did not go COMPLETELY over my head.

    :D

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  8. Fabulous! I showed this to my British husband, who found it very amusing.

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  9. Dickie, Kai and Paris P

    - you may be interested in one I did on a similar theme - 'Don't Mention the War'
    http://keithsramblings.blogspot.com/2007/10/part-3-dont-mention-war.html

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  10. Missy and Jadey - it's difficult to think of something different. Glad you liked it.

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  11. Ps and guatami- thanks for your comments. Much of depends on wartime slang so I wasn't sure how it would go down!

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  12. Rambler - I aim to please! Thanks

    Jo - go on, say it anyway!

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  13. Very powerful message on a bottle. Well done Keith.

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  14. oh this was over the top... i loved it and i want those damn posters!!!!!

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  15. These are great! Glad you posted this. I'm alternately laughing, sighing. Wonderful!

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  16. These are so very cheeky in a Brit WAY!!!!!!!
    I like them, Keith!!!!!

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  17. Ah yes, the British humour, I miss it!Shh...lest my British friends hear me and that wont be the last I hear of it. Your post reminded me of the good old days in Britain and the endless beer adventures..thanks for sharing.

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  18. * sound of rushing air *

    Yep ... There it goes ... right. over. my. head.

    -J

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  19. Arrrhh a beer with a message, I like the thought of that. maybe some smart person will find away to put a message in your beer bottle. Just like a fortune cookie.

    Just a thought.

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  20. Thanks for the link to this great blog, Keith! What an interesting, informative and fun read ... and none of the adverts went over this Yank's head! Cheers! 🍻

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