1977 Great Waters of France (Perrier) Promotional Poster for the New York City Marathon

This is a 1977 promotional poster for the New York City Marathon, issued by Perrier. This famous poster celebrates the Marathon from a bird's-eye perspective, capturing the entire route and highlighting markers and landmarks.

A Closer Look

The view looks north on New York from a fictional highpoint over Staten Island. Starting at the Verazzano Narrows Bridge, the route is numbered as it passes through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and back into Manhattan, terminating near Columbus Circle. A gigantic Perrier bottle erupts from Central Park just behind Tavern-on-the-Green and the Finish Line. A text box at bottom gives the Marathon's scheduled date and start time, along with the previous year's winning time and time checks at each mile.

Publication History and Census

This poster was published by Great Waters of France (1976 - 1994), a company founded in 1976 by Perrier to manufacture and sell Perrier in the United States. Perrier was a sponsor of the New York City Marathon from 1977 until at least 1979, but New York City Marathon promotional posters exist from the mid-1980s, suggesting that Perrier either continued their sponsorship of the Marathon or ended and then renewed their partnership. Examples of Perrier New York City Marathon posters are scarce on the private market.