Minnesota Then
Campbell-Mithun had been hired by Hamm's in 1945 to broaden the brewery's appeal beyond Minnesota and promote the state’s virtues. Musician Ernie Garven adapted the tom-tom beat for the jingle, drawn from Charles Wakefield Cadman’s 1909 song From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water, with lyrics by Nelle Richmond Eberhart. While catchy and iconic, the jingle arguably simplified and culturally appropriated Indigenous cultures, becoming a defining—if controversial—feature of Hamm’s advertising history.
To launch the brewery nationally, a commercial campaign, among the first to feature animated characters in beer advertising, premiered on television in 1953. The bear’s goofy charm came from its heavy-lidded eyes, buck teeth, and lumbering, slapstick walk cycle. Every ad began with Garven’s syncopated tom-tom—‘da-da-da-DUM-da-DUM’—so instantly recognizable that children across living rooms knew a Hamm’s commercial was starting before a single line of dialogue played.
The bear quickly became the focal point of broader advertising campaigns. Its face appeared on billboards, newspaper ads, sports schedules, and countless point-of-sale products. Promotional items followed, including calendars, playing cards, placemats, napkins, coasters, cigarette lighters, salt and pepper shakers, piggy banks, and a back-lit 1959 ‘cascading-waterfall’ motion sign that soon adorned tavern bars across the Upper Midwest.
Commercials told miniature, entertaining stories. Viewers became so enthralled that local newspapers began printing the times Hamm's advertisements would air. Set against Minnesota's woods, waters, and wildlife, the ads highlighted the state's scenic wonder and helped lure tourists. In 1960, Minnesota's Conservation Federation awarded Hamm's for drawing attention to the state's "wonderful forests, lake resources, and recreational activities."
The campaigns won critical acclaim. In 1959, Hamm's Bear commercials earned 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—a remarkable achievement, especially since Hamm's ads aired in only 31 of 50 states.
In 1965, the Hamm family sold the company to Hartford, Connecticut's Heublein, Inc. for $63 million. Four years later, the brewery ended its long relationship with Campbell-Mithun, switching 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 ads had undoubtedly been popular, company officials often said the bear had never "asked for the sale"—a line of agency folklore. The real reason, however, was declining market share: Hamm’s fell from 3.2% of U.S. beer sales in 1960 to 0.9% in 1969. Heublein, heavily leveraged in acquiring the brewery, needed to reposition the brand toward younger suburban drinkers who associated the bear with their fathers’ beer. Pulling the campaign was less a creative judgment than a pragmatic move to save the business.
In 1973, after five consecutive years of declining sales, the bear returned as 'Theodore H. Bear,' president of Hamm's Brewing Company. The lovable oaf of the past was replaced by a tattersall-vested, tie-wearing "spokes-bear," who looked the same but acted markedly different. This campaign ran alongside ads featuring 'Sasha,' a live-action Kodiak bear, but it failed to resonate and was soon scrapped. The Hamm's Bear returned to hibernation.
Heublein, a food and beverage company rather than a brewer, sold Hamm’s in 1975 to a group of distributors, who later passed it on to Olympia Brewing Company.
Hamm's Bear—everyone's "old friend"—made a comeback in print ads and promotional products in 1978. A short time later, he returned to television. After twelve years of poor sales, the brand immediately improved. Brewery officials credited multiple changes but believed the bear played a significant role in the revival.
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 as a runner-up on its list of "150 Influential Minnesotans of the Past 150 Years."
In 2000, Miller Brewing Company retired the Hamm’s Bear from advertisements in response to growing FTC and state regulatory pressure against cartoon characters in alcohol marketing. In 2005, a statue was erected in downtown St. Paul to honor Minnesota’s beloved mascot.
Decades after retiring from television, the Hamm’s Bear enjoys a second life in collectibles and fashion markets—1959 motion-signs fetch thousands on eBay, and Urban Outfitters sold "vintage" bear sweatshirts for $65 in 2021—proving that the once "too childish" mascot now thrives as a nostalgic and ironic icon for a new generation.
The bear born on a 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. Even years after the final commercial aired, Minnesotans fondly recall the bear from the "Land of Sky-Blue Waters."