Dave Barry

Dave Barry, "Red, White, and Beer"

Dave Barry (1947- ) was born in Armonk, New York and earned a B.A. from Haverford College in 1969. He's been a reporter and a freelance columnist, and has had a regular column in The Miami Herald since 1983, which has subsequently been widely syndicated. Barry won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988, one of a very select few to do so for humorous commentary. He is the author of numerous best-selling books, including Dave Barry in Cyberspace (1996), the novel Big Trouble (1999), and Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down! (2000). He also contributes to periodicals such as Boating, Home Office Computing, and Reader's Digest. "Red, White, and Beer" takes a funny look at the link between advertising and patriotism. It was first published in The Miami Herald in 1988 and collected in Dave Barry's Greatest Hits the same year.

CONTENT

1. Where does the author find real patriotism on television?
2. List some of the brand names the author mentions. Does a pattern emerge?
3. Describe Barry's opinion of the taste of Miller beer.
4. What "labor-saving concept" does the author mention?
5. Discuss the author's speculation as to why there's so much hand shaking in beer commercials.
6. What is one type of product for which Barry's never seen a patriotic commercial? What does he suggest be done about it?

STRATEGY AND STYLE

1. Study paragraph five. How does it differ in content from the rest of the article? What work is it doing within the piece?
2. Review your answer to content question b.) above. Throughout Barry uses real brand names. What is the effect of this decision? How would the piece change if he substituted, for example, a generic word like beer for the more specific Millerbeer?
3. Where are women mentioned in this piece? What are they doing? What does this say about the author's point of view of women's role regarding his main subject?

1. What's your favorite television commercial of all time? If you don't have one, why not? How did your answer affect your reading here?
2. Did you find this essay funny? If you did, what did you find funny? If you didn't think it was funny, why not?

SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINED WRITING

1. Read or review Gloria Steinem's comments about the difficulties Ms. Magazine faced through its history concerning the interaction of editorial content with ad content. Dave Barry apparently is completely unconcerned with such an interaction. Write an essay explaining the different contexts in which these two authors write, and exploring the various possible reasons for their difference in approach.
2. Is there anything wrong with appealing to patriotism in advertising? Explain, writing an essay using your readings and own experience with patriotic ads. Describe and discuss two other common appeals that advertising uses.

FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Spend an hour or so watching television, with a notepad, jotting down notes about the commercials you see. You'll get more out of this time if you flip around trying to find commercials. Does the amount of ads with patriotic themes seem to be more pronounced than what Barry writes about, or less pronounced? For what kinds of products? Are some of them different than the products Barry writes about? What recent events, if any, might have had something to do with this trend?

WEB CONNECTION

Search here to find Barry's citation for his Pulitzer Prize. Which of the other recipients do you recognize? How can you go about finding out more about them?

LINKS

Biographical

This is Barry's biography from the Miami Herald, where he's been a columnist since 1983. Besides the biographical sketch, you'll find a photo of Barry and links to a bulletin board and to some recent columns.

Here's Barry's biography from one of his agencies, Grabow & Associates. How does the information differ here from that in the biography above? Why, do you think, the presentations are different?

When Barry was the master of ceremonies at their national conference in 2002, the American Advertising Federation put together this profile of Barry.

Bibliographical

For Barry's insights into big government, take a look at this interview on the subject at Reason magazine. The title: "All I Think Is That It's Stupid."

Here are some excerpts from Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys, if you're interested in "important guy issues" like scratching.

Still hungry for more? Well, here's a page from Bookbrowse.com where you'll find links to excerpts from both Big Trouble and Dave Barry Turns 50.

Cultural

Did you know that Barry has been a contributor to both film and television? Here's his filmography from Imdb.com.

Tired of Netscape? Fed up with Internet Explorer? Well, you finally have an alternative. Click here to install DaveScape.

Did you know that Barry is a member of a band called the Rock Bottom Remainders? Want to know more about it? Click here to their homepage at "Don't Quit Your Day Job" Records.