Friday’s ad is also for Hamm’s, showing their support for the local baseball team, the Minnesota Twins in 1961. It actually looks like the ad may have been on the back of a game program. Either way, the “Win! Twins! We’re with you all the way” rah-rah sentiment” was undoubtedly designed to foster brand loyalty.
Hamm’s was one of the better inexpensive “lawnmower” brews & had a lot of great TV ads featuring the cartoon bear – now for a little baseball history:
1961 was the Twins’ 1st year of existence – Calvin Griffith Jr moved the Washington Senators there. Same year, the new Washington Senators & the LA Angels came into existence as the 1st of eventually 14 expansion teams (7 in each league, added 2 or 4 at a time). Now, the former Montreal Expos, who began in 1967 & lost a shot @ a World Series in 1994 thanx to the stupid owners & their sycophantic commissioner Bud Selig (who at the time owned the Milwaukee Brewers – he put the team in a trust that his daughter manages after the conflict-of interest issue got raised in the press) responsible for the strike that resulted in the Series’ cancellation, reside in DC. (apologies for the uber-long sentence)
The ultimate carpetbagger Bob Short bought the expansion Senators & moved them to Texas after the 1971 season – he was the one who moved the NBA Minneapolis Lakers to LA.
Baseball’s my favorite sport – too bad you can’t get a decent pint+ off a keg for less than $8 – & you won’t even find Hamm’s in Minneapolis.