Poster: Guinness is good for you

Producer: Gilroy, John

Date: 1930

Accession number: 84.1/520

Measurements: H: 758 mm L: 607 mm

In 1928 Benson's advertising agency won the prestigious Guinness account. To build an image for the popular drink, director Oswald Green employed a simple research method: he visited pubs and asked people why they drank Guinness. The answer was invariably 'because it's good for you', and so the famous phrase was born. As the company's in-house illustrator and later art director, John Gilroy created Guinness's hallmark artwork. A Royal College of Art graduate, Gilroy went on to produce nearly 50 poster designs for Guinness over the next 35 years.