ET TUBE, BREWTUS!

Last month, a black bear was found in a Washington state campground, totally hammered on three dozen cans of beer. According to evidence, the bear tried a Busch Beer but apparently he decided to stick with the local brew instead for his lost weekend. Eventually the two year old ursine was caught and relocated - with Rainier beer as bait.

The opportunity was too tempting to pass up. Cole & Weber/Red Cell, the ad agency for Rainier beer, saw the incident as a great marketing gimmick. They held a contest to name the bear, and the winning submission was announced on the local TV show 'Rainier Vision'.

Ladies and gentlemen..... Hail, Brewtus!

Then Cole & Weber launched the first TV commercials for the Rainier brewery in 15 years. Using a guy in a bearsuit, the blipvert "dramatizes" the capture of Brewtus, in which Rainier beer played an integral part (of course).
Two more commercials will follow, continuing the adventures of Brewtus.

ECD Guy Seese of Cole & Weber/Red Cell attributed their campaign to "a little bit of luck, and a whole lot of being prepared".

Because they used a guy in a bear suit, I'd put the Rainier beer bear in the same league as the following "bears":

1] The bear chasing the campers in Geico's current commercial which spoofs those dopey Old Navy ads. ("Camping is fun!")

2] The two bears who steal away with Jerry Seinfeld's golf cart in a blipvert for American Express.

3] The Masturbating Bear on cousin Conan's 'Last Night'.

Bizarre behavior, crime, and aberrant sex..... Yeah, I'd say those bears were all boozin' bruins as well!

Sidebear - er, bar: There would be no connection to the Hamm's Beer Bear of 50s fame. He's residing in the Tooniverse.

Now, some readers out there (if any!) might think it's a colossal waste of time to go looking for the cosmic connections in such minutiae as a bunch of guys running around TV Land in bear costumes.

And they're right.

But I find such an obsessive hobby to have recuperative powers. It's soothing, relaxing, almost peaceful. (Like murder for hire in 'Three Days Of The Condor'.)

After all, if I have the Bear Must-See-TVs, the simple Bear Must-See-TVs, I can forget about my troubles and my strifes.

That is, until the meds kick in. Or I'm shot by a tranquilizer rifle and then tagged.....

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"Don't waste your time trying to get inside my head. There's nothing there."
- Denny Crane
'Boston Legal"