Guinness planned to advertise in Nazi Germany with posters featuring Zeppelins and Swastika flags
- 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' London office vetoed the plans, but Irish office asked for posters
- The artwork, which is now thought to be worth £1.2million, was never used.
In 1936 Guinness asked their advertisers to draw up a campaign for Nazi Germany, which featured its signature toucan alongside Swastikas and Zeppelins. The pictures are all from original oil paintings which would have been used to mass produce posters, but the campaign never launched. The canvasses disappeared when the advertising agency was sold, but resurfaced in 2009 and feature in a new book by former brewer David Hughes.
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 paintings are all originals, made using oil on canvas, and would have been used to mass-produce poster copies, but were never actually used. The images, which are now thought to be worth £1.2million, feature in a new book, Gilroy Was Good For Guinness,
In the book is a memo from executives at the drink maker to SH Benson, their longtime advertising partner, which shows that the Irish and London offices did not agree on the campaign.
It says: 'Dear John. Another hot potato, I'm afraid. This one comes from St James's Gate [Guinness's Dublin headquarters], who are busy wooing an importer in Berlin.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Hughes said he believes it is unlikely that Guinness, SH Benson and Gilroy were aware of the true horrors of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.
In 1936, people were a bit naïve about Nazi symbolism and what it came to mean. People were starting to believe the Germans were dangerous. Guinness in London did not favour getting into the German market but in Ireland there was a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards Nazi Germany.
