{"id":20327,"date":"2018-08-01T18:22:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T22:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/?p=20327"},"modified":"2026-09-24T18:25:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T22:25:03","slug":"welcome-to-the-land-of-sky-blue-waters-how-the-hamms-bear-disrupted-the-beer-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/welcome-to-the-land-of-sky-blue-waters-how-the-hamms-bear-disrupted-the-beer-industry\/20327\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Land of Sky Blue Waters: How the Hamm\u2019s Bear Disrupted the Beer Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Heather Taylor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more than 150 years, Hamm\u2019s Beer has refreshed lager lovers everywhere but the beer really hit its stride at the tail end of 2017. As reported by MillerCoors (which counts Hamm\u2019s among the brands it brews), Hamm\u2019s was up 74.6 percent<\/a> on an 87.3 percent jump in volume. Sales are increasing, continuing to draw in its existing fanbase (often refer to as \u201cHammpions\u201d) along with new drinkers at Hamm\u2019s happy hours. Hamm\u2019s success can also be attributed to a very specific nostalgic element: its brand mascot. The most loyal Hammpions recall that a friendly bear was there from the very beginning \u2014 and the brand couldn\u2019t have been the success it was without him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s go back to the start, or as close to the start as we can. Hamm\u2019s Beer was born and bred in the Midwest, established in 1865 as Theodore Hamm\u2019s Brewing Company in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Throughout the 1900s, leadership and various acquisitions by brewing companies allowed the beer brand to steadily boom with consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"hamms_bear_beer\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The early 1950s saw the debut of an illustrated brown bear mascot \u2014 known as Hamm\u2019s Bear \u2014 featured on the brand\u2019s packaging. He was originally drawn by Native American artist Patrick Desjarlait<\/a> and brought to life through an advertising campaign from ad executive Raymond O. Mithun<\/a> and artist Ray Tollefson<\/a> at the ad agency Campbell Mithun (now known as Mithun). The Hamm\u2019s Bear danced, got caught up in various hijinks, and was accompanied by a catchy \u201cfrom the land of sky blue waters\u201d jingle, an ode to Minnesota\u2019s clear, blue waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"bill_stein_hamms\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bill Stein<\/a>, a former WWII veteran, joined the Hamm\u2019s Brewing Company in 1954. A naturally gifted illustrator and graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (then known as the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts), Stein drew and designed the character for over 30 years. Stein later revealed that Hamm\u2019s Bear was simply known as \u201cMr. Bear\u201d and that he didn\u2019t have a name. The character\u2019s design was also switched from a brown bear to a black bear after the company realized there weren\u2019t any brown bears in Minnesota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/PVq7IsExEJA\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Hamm\u2019s Beer Bear, as mentioned earlier, was one rugged character. Or he tried to be one, anyway. He spent most of his time indulging in the great outdoors, dabbling in everything from entering a motocross race<\/a> to rescuing ducks<\/a> but was accident-prone and klutzy. Every now and then, he would trade in the outdoors for the bar, occasionally showing up at our real world pubs as his animated self. Thanks to the character\u2019s iconic look, he was instantly recognized and welcomed by Hammpions. His jingle also had an unusual story behind its creation. Mithun helped create the jingle as part of the campaign, which was based on Haitian voodoo drumming<\/a> recordings and used empty cans of StarKist tuna fish to beat out its rhythmic sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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