Pop into this bar in San Francisco, and you’re in for a treat.

The place started in 1948, and has a peculiarly French feel to it. With awful portraits on the wall (one claims it’s Patrick Swayze, but the only way of telling is to read the sign saying who it is below), it’s certainly a sight to see.

As I walked in, the sight that greeted me from the upstairs balcony were two feet. Whoever it was up there (who, listening to the bar-tenders chatting to themselves, had imbibed a fair amount of Absinthe), had decided to relax a little.

The amusing signs are all over the bar. Some parts are dedicated to people who used to drink there – the John Wilkes Memorial Booth is above the bar to the right; a large portrait of the original owner – Henri Lenior, a stern-looking french man, in a beret. The signs are classy and amusing – even, somehow, the one typeset in MS Comic Sans. No, really.

The gas-lamp chandelier above the bar, and the art-deco mirror, will give you plenty to look at when you choose your beer; however, the range on tap isn’t quite as exciting as the decor, sadly. Here’s what was on tap when I visited the other day…

Anchor Steam (San Francisco, California, USA)
Widmer Hefeweizen (Portland, Oregon, USA)
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (Chico, California, USA)
Pilsner Urquell (Pilsen, Czech Republic)
Budweiser (St Louis, Missouri, USA)
Stella Artois (Leuven, Belgium)
Amstel Light (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Bass (Burton, UK)
Guinness (Dublin, Ireland)

Amstel Light, Amsterdam, Anchor Steam, Bass, Belgium, Budweiser, Burton, California, Chico, Czech Republic, dublin, England, Guinness, Ireland, Leuven, Missouri, Netherlands, Oregon, Pilsen, Pilsner Urquell, Portland, San Francisco, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, St Louis, Stella Artois, USA, Widmer Hefeweizen Hide

For reasons best known to Guinness’s PR team, I am the proud recipient of a small USB stick containing a few shots of the new Guinness ad.

I’ve studied them. One has a man attached to a rocket. Another has lots of diggers. A third has a camera pointing at some snow. A fourth, shown above, appears to be a still of the TV ad, shown on a little telly inside a cheap car, where the ad-men are sheltering from the rain.

I have no idea what’s going on.

One of the shots is entitled ‘Coralman’ on the USB stick, if that’s of any help at all.

Lovers of the black stuff, or lovers of beautifully-crafted television advertisements, might like to watch the television tomorrow evening, where apparently we’ll be able to see the whole thing. I suspect it’ll be trying to sell us Guinness of some variety. Which will be a good thing.

(Later: here it is!)

advertising, dublin, Guinness Hide