The Universal Whisky: Advertising Scotch Whisky to the Empire in The Illustrated London News, 1890-1914

Abstract

This article addresses two concurrent changes in the Scotch whisky industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: the rise and recognition of brand names for Scotch whisky, and the adoption of Scotch whisky as a popular beverage. A means of mass promotion developed concurrent to the rise in exports of Scotch whisky, which made it possible to communicate brand names but also represent the changing cultural perception and preference for Scotch whisky. The ILN has been studied and recognised as a vehicle for the dispersion of British culture and mass advertising literacy within the British Empire, and for that reason is utilised here to examine the changes the industry underwent.