Ten greatest alcohol icons of all time

by Joe DiStefano, Posted Jul 22nd 2007 @ 12:00PM

Did you know that the first print ad for Johnnie Walker, which appeared in 1883, featured a Scotsman bawling over a broken bottle at his feet? Me neither, until I read Modern Drunkard's Ten Greatest Alcohol Icons of All Time. The jaunty chap with the top hat, tails and walking stick didn't appear until 1909. Originally known as the "Regency Buck," the iconic figure underwent a name change to become "The Striding Man." I also learned that Johnnie Walker is Superman's libation of choice.

It comes as no surprise that the whimsical Guinness Toucan appears on MD's list. The bird was introduced in the 1930s and had a 50-year run until its retirement in 1982. While many a tippler is familiar with this brightly colored fellow sporting a pint of the black stuff balanced on his beak, few know the little poem that accompanied the original advertisement: "If he can say as you can/'Guinness is good for you'/How grand to be a Toucan!/Just think what Toucan do."

Most of the other icons on the list, including Mr. Boston, the Bacardi Bat and The Wild Turkey were familiar to me with the exception of The Hamm's Bear. Heck, I've never even heard of Hamm's Beer much less the wacky cartoon bear that represented the brand in a series of commercials that involved all sorts of high jinks ranging from pie fights and such to more serious capers such as robbery and arson. Rather than list all of the icons here I thought I'd let folks read through the MD piece.

Source

Filed Under: Lists, Did you know?, Drink Recipes
Tags: advertising, Bacardi, Bacardi bat, BacardiBat, beer, commercials, did you know, Guinness, Hamm's, Hamm's Beer, Hamm's Beer Bear, Hamm'sBeer, Hamm'sBeerBear, Johnnie Walker, JohnnieWalker, Modern Drunkard, ModernDrunkard, Mr. Boston, Mr.Boston, Regency Buck, RegencyBuck, rum, Scotch, spirits, Striding Man, StridingMan, Superman, Toucan, Wild Turkey, WildTurkey

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-23-2007 @9:27AM Maggi said... I can't believe St. Pauli Girl didn't make the list.
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7-23-2007 @11:14AM colby said... I was thinking real people ...

Who would be on the list?

Dean Martin no. 1, possibly? Homer Simpson on there somewhere?

Who else?
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