Most common in these ads
Goals
- Build the brand 25 ads and videos
- Sell now 3 ads and videos
- Stand for something 2 ads and videos
Industries
- Food and drink 31 ads and videos
Patterns
- Utility premium 7 ads and videos
- Civilian war-duty equate 3 ads and videos
- Keepable trade card 3 ads and videos
The ads
Bovril meat extract ad, The Sphinx 1921
Bovril keeps you afloat: the phrase "that sinking feeling" is drawn literally as a smiling man riding a giant Bovril jar across the open sea.
A shaggy bull leans out of a train and asks the guard if he is on the right line for Bovril, a joke that says the product is real beef.
Bovril beef extract advertorial, al-Musawwar 1936
Dressed as a news report on Bovril's annual meeting, the piece moves from rising sales to a national nutrition debate, casting Bovril with milk as the answer.
Bovril wartime ad, 'My place is at the front'
The bull volunteers: hearing the army wants more Bovril, it walks up to the recruiting desk, so the brand is shown as something the front needs.
Bovril beef extract ad, al-Musawwar 1936
Bovril users are counted in millions and they are the strongest-built people: a crowd worth joining, said in one sentence with the name at its centre.
Bovril 'The Pope and Bovril' ad
Bovril is as infallible as the Pope: the brand borrows the Church's word for its head and sets itself beside him on equal terms.
Bovril meat extract ad, The Sphinx 1922
Buy two bottles of Bovril, not one, so the house never runs out of a food it reaches for every day.
Bovril dictionary page advertisement
Bovril is so basic to health that it has its own dictionary entry, defined as health, strength and energy, useful in the sick room and the kitchen.
Bovril meat extract ad, The Sphinx 1923
An empty shelf is the risk, so buy Bovril two bottles at a time and always keep one in reserve.
Bovril 'good folk all keep an eye on Bovril' ad
Every kind of person, from the cook to the judge, keeps an eye on Bovril, drawn literally as a row of faces over a fence watching a bull.
Bovril beef extract ad, The Sphinx 1923
The grocer is not always open when a sudden need for Bovril comes, so a wise housewife keeps a spare bottle and never runs out.
Bovril versus extracts of meat booklet
Bovril is the real bull and extracts of meat are only its shadow: Bovril carries the substance of the beef, rival extracts only its outline.
Bovril slogan hospital ballot cartoon and ticket book
A shilling helps the hospitals and could win £3,000, and to enter you must read, rank and predict the winners among 24 Bovril slogans.
Bovril 'Alas, my poor brother' card
A bull hears that people want more Bovril, bad news for cattle and good news for the brand, so the joke itself tells the reader Bovril is beef.
Bovril 'It's not the cowl that makes the monk' hold-to-light leaflet
An old proverb bent into a promise, 'It's not the cowl that makes the monk, but Bovril makes the man', acted out by a small child in a monk's cowl.
Bovril 'The paragon of animals' Shakespeare ad
Shakespeare's 'paragon of animals' is a small boy drinking Bovril while a dog watches, and Bovril is what builds his 'paragon frame'.
Bovril cut-out letter puzzle leaflet
Thirteen black shapes make sense only when the reader assembles them into BOVRIL, so the brand name becomes the reward for the effort.
Bovril 'Wherever did I put that Bovril' leaflet
Bovril is so wanted that even the child has taken it, and there is only one Bovril: beef tea and cheap foreign copies are not the same thing.
Bovril "Bovril is liquid life" booklet
Influenza is coming and picks its victims from the run-down and underfed, so a regular cup of hot Bovril puts the drinker outside the group it targets.
A keepsake record of the whole war, dated day by day, with Bovril claiming its share of the victory in a short line at the foot of every page.
Bovril 'The Absent-Minded Beggar' ballad sheet
A wounded soldier handing a comrade Bovril instead of a cartridge shows the brand as strength itself, 'Strength to the Last', backed by War Office use in field hospitals.
Bovril The Book of Tasty Sandwiches recipe booklet
A teaspoon of Bovril in every filling, so one bottle, some butter and a loaf answer a mother's daily problem: lunch for children who cannot come home at mid-day.
Bovril 'There Is Only One Bovril' booklet
There is only one Bovril: every kind of it is first class, and it beats ordinary beef-tea and meat extract because it keeps the nourishing solids of the beef.
Bovril Union Jack patriotic broadsheet
Three folding crosses the reader lays over each other to build the Union Jack, ending on the claim that Bovril is British to the backbone.
Medical reception factory visit booklet, 1911
Doctors are invited to walk the Bovril factory room by room and see for themselves that the product is made cleanly, scientifically and without ever being touched by hand.
Bovril diamond jubilee year souvenir
The royal cipher sits inside the brand name: the crowned VR of Queen Victoria forms the middle of BOVRIL on a jubilee medal, so her initials complete the word.
Bovril handy-book and diary of the War
A dated war diary and a guide to badges and medals for families following their soldiers, with a Bovril slogan closing every page.
A book of match and coin tricks to perform at the tea-table or on a train, given with Bovril's compliments and almost no selling.
Bovril cookery book of 100 recipes
Bovril as the thrifty cook's shortcut: one hundred recipes that turn scraps of meat and game into high-class dishes at the smallest possible cost.
Practical handbook of standard soups, sauces and gravies
A chef's cookbook that makes Bovril the stock: recipe after recipe measures it in by the tablespoon, so cooking from the book means using the product.
A page-filling crowd is only a sliver of the seven million people one recent day of Bovril sales could have served a hot cup.
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