In the 1970s and 80s, Rainier Beer created some spectacularly funny commercials. These were the work of the Heckler-Bowker advertising agency, who worked for the brewery between 1974 and 1987.
The firm parodied Gilda Radner’s Roseanne Roseannadanna character on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update and also the Blues Brothers, as the Brews Brothers:
There was also a series with Mickey Rooney. Rooney was in between projects and did the ads for five hundred dollars and a Ford station wagon.
They also made several ad spots that played on Tarzan and Cheetah:
Many of the ads also used a little Pacific Northwest style, highlighting the natural beauty, wildlife, and culture of the region, including having frogs croaking Rainier long before Budweiser did the same thing:
And then there was the Running of the Rainiers with beers charging through the streets of Seattle, much like the bulls of Pamplona, Spain. It is really too bad this does not actually happen.
