Now people today think of Colt 45 and the image of Billy Dee Williams in the Colt 45 beer ads is what comes to mind. Live under a rock and don't know what I mean? Well check out this vintage Colt 45 beer ad:
If you turned 21 in the 1990's in NYC, cracking 40's of Colt 45 (along with Old E, St. Ides, Private Stock and Ballantine Ale) was common. Especially for those of us who did so at the Astoria Park Strip!!!! But Colt 45 has been around for a while and it didn't always advertise to the urban beer drinker.
The Colt 45 beer was created in 1963 by the Baltimore based National Brewing Company and unlike the common belief that the beer was named after the Colt 45 handgun, the beer was actually named after Baltimore Colts and their running back Jerry Hill who wore number 45 for Baltimore from 1961 to 1970. Yes, the Colts played in Baltimore before sneaking out in the middle of the night and moving to Indianapolis. Why after Jerry Hill and not someone like Johnny Unitas? 🤷🏽♂️ That I can't answer but the article Retro Baltimore Trivia: How did Baltimore beer Colt 45 get its name? from the Baltimore Sun verifies the naming of the beer.
At first, as with most beer advertising during the early 1960's, the demographic advertised to was basically white middle class. The ads touted Colt 45 as being "In the dull and commonplace occurrences of day-to-day living, one thing stands out as a completely unique experience, Colt 45 Malt Liquor." Here are a trio of Colt 45 ads from the early 1960's:
As stated in my last post, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the neglected African American market started being advertised to by brewers though it would take Colt 45 a bit longer to go full blast on the urban market. Their initial ads had the main focus on the Waiting Man who was as his name states waiting on getting some Colt 45. As time went on the ads got a bit extreme. Check these out:
and this one:
The advertising would change with including this ad with Redd Foxx driving recklessly on a ski slope to deliver the Waiting Man his six-pack of tall boy Colt 45s.
By 1974, print ads would include Redd Foxx and the shift to marketing to the urban areas a was on. Check out these two print ads which clearly show it is being marketed to a different demographic than earlier ads:
The big advertising coup for Colt 45 is when they were able to hire Billy Dee Williams to be their spokesperson. Williams was arguably one of the biggest and most popular African American actors at the time. Having him as the spokesperson for Colt 45 during the 1980s and 1990s made it skyrocket in demand. Check out this gem:
and this one with Fab Five Freddy:
Billy Dee Williams' effect on the beer can still be seen in this ad from just a couple of years ago:
and even TMZ gets in on the act:
You gotta love YouTube. Ok, enough with the videos.
Colt 45 is currently owned by the Pabst Brewing Company and comes in a number of different varieties aside from the original 5.6% ABV Malt Liquor brew. Acording to Untappd, there's the Colt 45 Double Malt also with a 5.6% ABV, the Colt 45 High Gravity Lager at 8.5% ABV and what's known as the Blast Colt 45 which comes in a variety of flavors and clocking in at a whopping 12% ABV. These seem to be made in direct competition with the Four Loko brand of beverages. There's also a Colt 45 Premium Strong Beer that at 7.2% ABV is made for the overseas Asian market. The Light, Ice and Powermaster brews are no longer available. Does anyone out there remember this brief entry in the Colt 45 portfolio?
At some point I'll pick up some Colt 45 for a tasting review on my IG-TV channel. Maybe. So if you're in the hood, pop by your local bodega and pick up a tall boy, a double deuce or a forty of Colt 45. Tell them Billy Dee sent you.
Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla
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