Budapest Poster Gallery

2. Auktion | Plakate und Plakatentwürfen

95 x 63 cm. Near mint.

The poster of Szántó carbon-dioxide water is a unique example of advertising and art history. It is among the earliest and most compelling proofs of the success of brand based advertising.
This poster auctioned now is a very rare piece. The date is not marked and it is not signed. The only information visible on the piece is that it was printed in Bakács Albert lithography printing house. Business magazine (a Hungarian magazine of the time, ‘Üzlet’) published the reproduction of the poster in 1911 what points to the fact that it was designed earlier than 1911. We also know that the Unicum character had been already well-known by the time this masterpiece was published, which leads to the conclusion that it must have been done after 1909.
There are four popular characters on this composition, which were known by the public from significant posters: the bishop of Kerpel and the grotesque man with a moustache of Digestol Glück by Géza Faragó are sitting at a table with the 'lank-haired boy of Lysoform and the soaking man of Unicum. The essence of this poster is that here these figures do not promote their ‘own’ brand, but they are together to popularize a completely different product. The author of the poster used figures which were already identified by the audience with certain brands. On this poster these characters are taken out from their original context – this is what grabs the attention of the public.
Plagiarism and the unvarnished copying of brand symbols weren’t rare in poster art at the beginning. This poster emphasize that mineral water is very healthy by borrowing the credibility of characters advertising other thought to be healthy products.