One of the lesser known things about Hanna-Barbera was, as well as churning out barely-animated Saturday morning cartoon fodder, they also did contract commercials for various companies. One presumes Mel Blanc and Daws Butler did not come cheap. In this shocking clip from around 1967, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble reveal they are drinkers as well as smokers.
Fred and Barney have been given the boot from their gravel pit jobs by cantankerous Mr. Slate, and have decided to run a bar. Remarkably, considering the only thing they serve is Busch (an Anheuser-Busch brand that's positioned lower than Budweiser), they are overrun by custom and end up exhausted and wishing for a life of rockbreaking again. Thankfully, Mr. Slate, despite being apparently rich, enters Fred and Barney's bar for a mug of economy filth. Due to the intoxicating properties of Busch (or the hallucinogenic effects of the chemicals AB put in the stuff), Slate rehires them.
This would not be allowed on TV today for so many reasons. Characters with kid appeal promoting alcoholic beverages. Implying that consuming beer will reduce inhibitions. Saying Busch is "Bavarian" when it was actually made in St. Louis. But lies and hideous lack of ethics aside, this is reasonable for 60s advertising, as it does make an attempt to entertain along with the shilling of commodity lager.
Maybe they should do this nowadays. I'm sure SpongeBob would go on TV extolling the virtues of Goose Island IPA for enough snail food to keep Gary going.
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