Yes, Hamm’s beer bear had a name
A reader who saw this picture of the Hamm’s bear asks if the bear had a name.
Wikipedia has the answer. Hamm’s employees called the bear Sascha, after the wife of the founder of the company, but the namenever actually was mentioned in commercials:
The Hamm’s Beer bear was created by Patrick DesJarlait, an Ojibwa, in 1952 for an advertising campaign produced by the Campbell-Mithun advertising agency. For a period, a real bear named Sascha trained by Earl Hammond appeared in commercials as well.
It was so well-known and identified with Minnesota that the St. Paul Pioneer Press named the bear as a runner-up on its list of “150 Influential Minnesotans of the Past 150 Years” in 2000.
An excellent story at BeerHistory.com points out Sasha wasn’t a hit only in Minnesota:
Making his television debut in 1953, the Hamm’s bear ultimately became one of history’s most recognized advertising figures. In 1965, the Audit Research Bureau reported that the bear ranked first in “best liked” advertisements nationwide, an impressive achievement considering that Hamm’s commercials aired in only 31 states.
At least two aspects of the Hamm’s bear commercials were critical to their overwhelming success. First, each spot was, in itself, a miniature story, complete with plot, characters, conflict, and (if the bear was lucky) resolution. The spots had genuine entertainment value and elicited good viewer attention. Second, the animation and interspersed real-life shots dramatically showcased Minnesota’s pristine wilderness – the crystal-clear lakes, the heavy foliage, the abundant wildlife – in order to drive home the Hamm’s theme: “From the Land of Sky Blue Waters.” Consumer perception that Hamm’s Beer was pure, natural and refreshing was thus achieved through vivid imagery instead of trite, easily forgettable ad copy.
July 19th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
The story of Sasha, the flesh-and-blood Hamm’s bear, and his trainer, is in a very entertaining book from the 1970s, “Elephants in the Living Room, Bears in the Canoe,” which I got from the library when I was looking for materials about bears. It’s out of print now, but worth scouting out a copy for casual reading. Just the fact that the title is entirely true except for the plurals (there was only one elephant in the living room) should be enough to whet some appetites for the outlandish story inside.
January 20th, 2009 at 11:20 am
When I was growing up, my close friend lived next door to the Hammonds and the bear lived in a large cage/pen in between the two houses. The Hammonds used to bring over Mignon, the elephant, for visits. At that time, the 1970’s, Mignon was only about shoulder high, and very nice. When my friend had a graduation party from High School, the Hammonds brought Mignon (but not the bear) over to the delight and surprise of the two hundred teenager guests.