Spanish Advertising Trends

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One of the most recognized “national” symbols for all tourists visiting Spain, the Toro de Osborne is a huge black bull that watches over the Spanish roads. However, despite common belief, this bull is not a symbol of Spain, but the advertising logo used to promote a brandy-sherry by a group of wineries called “Osborne”.
The Osborne group began in 1772, and with more than 200 years of experience it is considered one of the oldest businesses in the world that still remains active today (94th place), and is the second oldest in Spain.
It was founded by Thomas Osborne Mann, and English shopkeeper from Exeter who settled in Cadíz. In the Puerto de San María he struck up friendships with other winery owners who originated from Britain and married the daughter of one of the managers of “Duffy Gordon”, with whom he had five children, the first Osbornes.
Two of his sons, Tomás and Juan Nicolás, inherited the business. The former took charge as soon as he was old enough; the latter followed a diplomatic career, and was named Count Osborne. Since Juan Nicolás had no heir, both his title and share of the business were inherited by his nephew, Tomás´ son who continued to run the business with great success.
In 1956 the advertising agent Azor, as instructed by the company, designed the first publicity campaign, the silhouette of a bull, made of wood and 4 metres high. These bulls were erected a year later in 1957.
From 1961 onwards they were made from metal sheets to avoid deterioration caused by harsh weather conditions, and the height was increased to 7 metres. However the new advertising rules published in 1962 forced to company to move the signs further away from the roads, and so they decided to make them 14 metres high, as they are seen today, so that they would be more visible.
There are in total 90 Osborne bulls distributed throughout the roads in Spain, 10 of them in the Cadíz province, but others can be found in all corners of the Peninsular. The wide distribution of this successful advertisement has meant that the Osborne bull is now associated with Spain itself and its silhouette is often seen on national Spanish football flags, t-shirts, caps, and towels etc.
The Osborne group continues to be a model family business in today´s food and drink industry, and we all want the majestic bull, a symbol of Spain as it is now known, to continue watching over our road journeys.

The mighty black bull whose silhouette towers over many a Spanish hillside and who was originally intended to advertise brandy is destined for smaller things thanks to a merchandising deal aimed at exploiting its potential as a souvenir.

There are currently more than 90 bulls across the country, each one made of steel, weighing four tonnes and standing as tall as a four-storey building. But the figure, which has been used by Spanish football fans to adorn their national flags and by Rafael Nadal on his tennis trainers, is soon to appear on ties, badges, keyrings, playing cards and towels as a result of a series of deals negotiated by the owner of the image, the Spanish drinks company Osborne.

The firm – which was founded by Thomas Osborne Mann, a young trader from Exeter who settled in Cádiz in the 18th century – said it had signed three contracts, with several others in the pipeline, from which it expects to earn royalties worth at least €1m (£850,00).

The first wooden Osborne bull appeared above the main road from Madrid to Burgos in 1957. Designed by Manolo Prieto in 1954, the design was tweaked in the intervening period, and not always to the taste of its creator. On seeing the simplified ears, shortened tail and reduced testicles of the company's version, he is said to have commented: "It looks more like a goat."

According to his family, Prieto turned the rights to the design over to Osborne in 1979 in exchange for a new apartment on the high plain outside Madrid – an indication perhaps that he already had an inkling of his work's value. Osborne's legal team has spent roughly half its time simply trying to protect the image – in the last 10 years the company's lawyers have successfully had 500,000 items, worth more than €3m, removed from sale.

Symbol

• The black bull emerged as a commercial trademark of Osborne, producers of sherry and other spirits. The silhouetted image of a black bull was created in 1956 by Manolo Prieto. It was displayed on Spanish roadways and became a popular cultural symbol of Spain, according to Pictures of Spain.

Controversy

• In the early 1990s, Spain outlawed billboards on national roads. The Spaniards were outraged when this included the images of the bulls and through protest were able to convince the government to allow the black bulls to remain without the Osborne advertising slogan.

Association

• Catalan nationalists started a movement against the only black bull image existing in Catalonia because it is strongly associated with Spain. It was continually vandalized and ultimately not replaced, according to Spain4uk.

Read more: What Is the Meaning of Black Bull? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_6814102_meaning-black-bull_.html#ixzz1vhtewyPH

You’ve all seen them at the side of the road usually on the top of a hill and you can have fridge magnets, car bumper stickers but what is the history behind the “Black Bull”?

It all began back in 1956 with the sherry and brandy company Osborne asking their advertising agency to come up with an idea to promote one of it’s leading products, that being Veterano brandy.  The agency went to the artist Manolo Prieto, he was given the remit to design a roadside advert that the public would take note of.  He came up with a sketch of a silhouette of a bull and as the Osborne name had been connected to bull breeding for hundreds of years they loved the idea and the Black Bull was born.

The first bulls were made of wood and stood around 4 meters high.  The first one was erected alongside the Madrid to Burgos road in 1957 at a place named Cabanillas de la Sierra.  In the beginning different ways of decorating the bulls were tried.  The first ones had white horns with the name Veterano Osborne and a glass of brandy on the side of the bull.   By the end of 1957 there were around 18 bulls spread around the country along side the Spanish road network.  In 1961 the first metal bulls began to appear and they were increased in size to around 7 meters in height.  In 1962 there were changes to the Spanish roadside advertising laws and all the bulls had to be moved to no less than 50 meters from the roadsides and 1225 meters from motorways and dual carriageways.  Because of this Osborne decided to double the size of the bulls to 14 meters, which in turn made the words on the side 3 times larger.

The bull now became the Osborne corporate symbol. By the 1970’s and 80’s the Osborne bull could be seen all over Spain.  Then in 1988 the bull’s life came under threat for the first time, when the General Highways Act set a one year period for removing all advertising along highways that were outside urban areas.  When this law came into force the company removed all of the lettering, but the bulls remained.

More regulations came into force in September 1994 which would further threaten the now famous land marks, this was until the media and public stepped in, forcing the authorities to back down.  The Supreme Court made a ruling stating that the Osborne bull had gone beyond its initial purpose, which was obviously advertising and had now become part of the Spanish landscape.  The Black Bull was now a national treasure and had been saved for the future.