Iconic bear missing from Windsor-made vodka label
Polar bears aren’t extinct yet — except on Polar Ice Vodka bottles. You may notice something missing from the Windsor-made brand on store shelves in the coming weeks.
Brand owner Corby Spirit and Wine Limited is temporarily removing the polar bear mascot from the Polar Ice logo to raise awareness of global efforts to save the species.
“We look at Polar Ice Vodka as being Canada’s vodka — the Spirit of the Great White North,” said Corby brand director Chris Bhowmik.
“Of course, on the bottle, we have the iconic polar bear.”
Along with eliminating the bear from the bottle, Corby has teamed up with Polar Bears International to encourage consumers to learn more about the plight of the animal.
Monday was International Polar Bear Day. Polar bears are the planet’s largest living land carnivores. Current estimates on the global polar bear population put their numbers at only 26,000.
Climate change has directly resulted in loss of polar bear habitat — and they are now classified as a vulnerable species.
About 60 per cent of all remaining polar bears live within Canadian borders.
The limited edition bear-less bottles have more information about the cause on their necks.
Bhowmik said 50,000 of the bottles have been produced, and they’re already on store shelves in other parts of Canada.
The bottles are expected to be distributed across Ontario over the next month, and should remain available until the end of April.
“We ultimately hope that our fans react positively to our support of Polar Bears International,” Bhowmik said.
Polar Ice Vodka is produced at the Hiram Walker facility. Corby Spirit and Wine Limited describes the brand as the fourth-largest vodka brand in Canada.
Find out more about polar bears at polarbearsinternational.org.