Mein Goodness! Artist who inked iconic Guinness toucan posters also designed a series for the drinks giant's expansion into NAZI Germany 

  • Campaign drawn up by company in 1936 - the year of the Berlin Olympics
  • Pictures featured Berlin stadium with Swastika flags and a Nazi soldier
  • Guinness's London office vetoed the plans, but the Irish office asked for posters
  • The artwork, now thought to be worth millions, was never used 

By JORDAN GASS-POORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: | Updated:

In 1936, Guinness almost became the tipple of choice for Nazi Germany.

Draft posters from that time, found by former brewer David Hughes, reveal the firm’s planned advertising campaign for the Third Reich. 

Drawn by John Gilroy, who produced most of the company's classic advertising, the collection was produced in 1936, the same year as the Berlin Olympics. 

The images, which were never used, include a smiling German soldier holding a pint of stout with the slogan ‘It is time – for a Guinness’, Timeline reports. 

One picture features a Wehrmacht soldier holding a pint with the caption, 'It's time for a Guinness', while another features the company's iconic toucans with beer glasses balanced on their beaks flying above the Olympic stadium, which is draped in Swastika flags.

Gilroy's sketches for a 1936 campaign for pre-war Nazi Germany placed the familiar Guinness toucans in a new setting

Gilroy's sketches for a 1936 campaign for pre-war Nazi Germany placed the familiar Guinness toucans in a new setting

Another sketch features the toucans with beer glasses balanced on their beaks flying above the Olympic stadium, which is draped in Swastika flags

Another sketch features the toucans with beer glasses balanced on their beaks flying above the Olympic stadium, which is draped in Swastika flags

One picture features a Wehrmacht soldier holding a pint with the caption, "It's time for a Guinness"

One picture features a Wehrmacht soldier holding a pint with the caption, "It's time for a Guinness"

Popular English tag lines, including "Guinness For Strength," were incorporated into Nazi-era imagery for the planned 1936 marketing campaign in Germany

Popular English tag lines, including "Guinness For Strength," were incorporated into Nazi-era imagery for the planned 1936 marketing campaign in Germany

The toucan was an early breakthrough for Gilroy, now in the echelon of Guinness logos

The toucan was an early breakthrough for Gilroy, now in the echelon of Guinness logos

The paintings are all originals, made using oil on canvas, and would have been used to mass-produce poster copies, but were never actually used. 

Hughes was researching a book on Gilroy in 2009 when he found the forgotten canvases, now thought to be worth millions.

The canvasses disappeared when the London advertising agency, SH Benson, was sold. 

They are featured in Hughes's book Gilroy Was Good For Guinness.   

Besides the paintings, Hughes found a note from the brewery’s advertising partner SH Benson to Gilroy, which explains why the paintings were never used for a campaign inside the Third Reich. 

Illustrator John Gilroy (pictured) drew up advertising posters for Guinness in 1936 that were designed for Nazi Germany but they were never used

Illustrator John Gilroy (pictured) drew up advertising posters for Guinness in 1936 that were designed for Nazi Germany but they were never used

In the memo, SH Benson executives talk about the project being a "hot potato", with Guinness keen to woo an importer in Berlin. 

'We must tread carefully,' the London office warns Gilroy. 'Could you produce a set of drawing for the Germans?

'As always I leave it to your fertile imagination, though may I suggest you use the toucans, which seem popular at present. Try to make them topical, but steer clear of too much nationalist socialist tub-thumping.' 

Despite some rising unease about Hitler, as seen in the memo, the true evil of Nazism was yet to come to light and companies were still keen to do business in Germany, Hughes explained to the Sunday Times in 2014. 

'In 1936, people were a bit naïve about Nazi symbolism and what it came to mean,' said Hughes.

'People were starting to believe the Germans were dangerous. Guinness in London did not favor getting into the German market, but in Ireland there was a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards Nazi Germany.' 

Most watched News videos