Poster, Sinalco,

1970

Sensuous red lips drawing from a straw are positioned above the dynamic lettering of the brand with the “i” replaced by a Sinalco bottle: with this stroke of advertising genius, the young graphic designer Peter Emch (b. 1945) would go down in poster history, only to devote himself entirely to art just a few years later. It was during his time as art director at Advico-Delpire that Sinalco had its heyday as a cult beverage.
The agency’s posters recall Roy Lichtenstein’s (1923–1997) legendary cartoon-like imagery. The glowing color combination of yellow and red as well as the raster dots are borrowed directly from the American painter, who imitated in his images the industrial printing techniques used for commercial products. At the same time, the raster also plays with Sinalco’s trademark red dot, which was introduced as far back as 1937. Emch succeeded in creating a poster that broke with conventional advertising aesthetics and paid homage to the zeitgeist with its overt eroticism. (Bettina Richter)