Hamm’s Bear (1953 - 1999)

Campbell-Mithun had been hired by Hamm's in 1945 to extend the brewery's appeal beyond Minnesota and promote the virtues of the state to outsiders. Musician Ernie Garven was enlisted to pen a jingle to support the agency's 'Land of Sky-Blue Waters' campaign. He wrote the familiar tom-tom beat. The infectious beat Garven created and the later accompanying song became part of advertising history.

A meeting was scheduled to help Hamm's, a successful local brewing company with national ambitions, take the next step. The resulting commercial campaign, the first to use animated characters to sell beer, premiered on television in 1953.

The bear became the focal point of advertising campaigns on other mediums. Its face could be found on billboards, newspaper ads, sports schedules, and other point-of-sale products. A bevy of promotional products followed, including calendars, playing cards, placemats, napkins, coasters, cigarette lighters, salt and pepper shakers, a piggy bank, and more.

Commercials told a genuinely entertaining miniature story. Viewers became so enthralled with the bear that local newspapers began printing the time Hamm's advertisements would air on television.

Those advertisements were built on the backdrop of Minnesota’s woods, waters, and wildlife, highlighted the state’s scenic wonder and played a large part in luring tourists to the region. In 1960 Minnesota's Conservation Federation awarded Hamm's for drawing attention to the state's "wonderful forests, lake resources, and recreational activities.”

The ads won critical acclaim. In 1959, the Hamm's Bear commercials won the American Legion Auxiliary's first television commercial award. Six years later, the Audit Research Bureau ranked the bear "best liked" in national advertisements twenty-two times over a thirty-eight-month span. The feat was even more impressive considering Hamm's ads only aired in 31 of the 50 states.

In 1965 the Hamm family sold the company to Hartford, Connecticut's Heublein, Inc. for $63 million. Four years later, the company ended its long relationship with Campbell-Mithun, switching advertising agencies to J. Walter Thompson Co. The Hamm's Bear was retired.

Viewers rallied to support the oafish bear, but the brewery and new agency were ready to move on. While the advertisements had undoubtedly been popular, company officials felt the bear had never "asked for the sale," a cardinal sin in the advertising world.

In 1973, after five consecutive years of sinking sales, the bear was brought back as 'Theodore H. Bear,' president of the Hamm's Brewing Company. The loveable oaf of the past was replaced by this tattersall vested, tie-wearing "spokes-bear," who looked the same but acted markedly different than his predecessor.

The new campaign, which ran alongside a series of advertisements featuring 'Sasha,' a live-action Kodiak bear, didn't resonate with viewers. It was soon scrapped. The Hamm's Bear was returned to hibernation.

Heublein was a food and beverage dealer, not a brewer. In 1975 they sold the company for $6 million to a group of beer distributors, which turned around and sold it to Olympia Brewing Company.

In 1978 the Hamm's Bear, everyone's "old friend," made a comeback in print advertisements and promotional products. A short time later, he returned to television. After twelve years of poor sales, the Hamm's brand saw immediate improvement. Brewery officials credited several changes but believed the bear played a large part in their renewed success.

Ownership of the brewery continued to change in the 1980s and 1990s, but the bear remained. In 1999 'Advertising Age' honored the Hamm's Bear advertising campaign as the 75th best of the 20th century. A year later, the St. Paul Pioneer Press recognized the bear's influence by naming it a runner-up on its list of "150 Influential Minnesotans of the Past 150 Years."

In 2000, the Miller Brewing Company, in response to building national pressure on companies to stop using cartoon characters to sell adult products, quit using the Hamm's Bear in ads. A Hamm's Bear statue was erected in downtown Saint Paul in 2005 to honor Minnesota's favorite home-grown cartoon character.

The bear born on a restaurant napkin was made famous by many incredible artists working in multiple mediums, including Albert Whitman, Howard Swift, Pete Bastiensen, Ray Tollefson, Cy Decosse, Art Babbitt, Patrick DesJarlait, and Bill Stein. Many years after the final commercial ran, people fondly recall Minnesota's famous advertising icon from the 'Land of Sky-Blue Waters.'