Description
A startled zoo keeper flails after a mischievous sea‑lion that has pinched his bottle and now balances a brimming pint of Guinness proudly on its nose. The bold red slogan “My Goodness my Guinness” shouts across the cream ground, framed by a slender green keyline that echoes the brewery’s Irish identity. The wide two‑sheet format gives the comical chase room to breathe, making this one of the most cinematic of John Gilroy’s celebrated zoo‑series designs.
Commissioned through S.H. Benson for Guinness’s 1930s publicity drive, Gilroy’s animal adverts humanised the stout and boosted sales in the inter‑war slump. The sea‑lion first appeared in 1935 and quickly joined the toucan and ostrich as brand mascots, gracing billboards, transport panels and pubs worldwide. Surviving campaign material is scarce because posters were intended for short outdoor runs.
The present lithograph was printed on two sheets (usually by John Waddington Ltd., Leeds) for joining and pasting to hoardings. Rich flat colours, simplified modelling and expressive cartooning place it firmly in the inter‑war British commercial‑art tradition.
