the April 15 headline carried by PennLive.com\/The Patriot News<\/a>, central Pennsylvania\u2019s largest newspaper. The article noted that the brand changed hands some 18 times in the 1970s alone, before current owners, Chicago-based Molson Coors, purchased the Hamm\u2019s name in 1999.<\/p>\n\u201cYou might be disappointed to know that it\u2019s gradually making its way out,\u201d reads The Patriot News piece, which chronicles the evolution and supposed final reckoning of the beer that for decades hailed from the \u201cLand of Sky Blue Waters.\u201d<\/p>\n
So how is Sasha, the iconic Hamm\u2019s Bear, taking the news?<\/p>\n
The Hamm\u2019s mascot emerged from hibernation this week to deny, deny, deny reports of its extinction. Someone donned the Sasha costume and, at the behest of company leadership, traveled from Minnesota to Pennsylvania for photo-ops on Tuesday at landmarks and dive bars throughout the central part of the state, where the giant bear distributed free beer and merchandise.<\/p>\n
If anything, Hamm\u2019s has experienced something of a resurgence in Philadelphia and other blue collar watering holes, where the beer is often paired with a shot of hard liquor for a \u201cbeer and a bump,\u201d known in working-class Philly as a \u201cCitywide Special,\u201d or served as the central ingredient in a Mexican chelada, a type of beer cocktail.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the headlines out of Pennsylvania, and we\u2019re happy to say they\u2019ve got it wrong \u2014 Hamm\u2019s isn\u2019t going anywhere,\u201d said Chris Steele, senior director of value brands with Molson Coors, in a written statement issued Tuesday. \u201cWe\u2019ve been around since 1865, and with the help of Sasha the Bear, we\u2019re showing up in Philadelphia with cold, classic beer to keep our tradition going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now where did Coors find the Sasha outfit? \u201cThe Hamm\u2019s bear costume lives in MN and stays in hibernation until needed,\u201d reads an email from a public relations consultant, who asked not to be identified as they are not authorized to speak on behalf of the company.<\/p>\n
The article on PennLive now carries a prominent correction \u2014 \u201cAn earlier version of this story suggested that Hamm\u2019s was phasing out of production. This is not the case and the story has been revised. We regret the error\u201d \u2014 as well as a link to the Hamm\u2019s beer online locator (hamms.com\/##locator), which points fans to bars and retailers that carry the iconic brand, including about 100 locations in St. Paul alone.<\/p>\n
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