Bearly credible, this Bristol ursine rebrand

THE marketing brains behind Bristol’s rebranding as Bears could not have struck a more timely PC note.

During a season in which two players, Mathieu Bastareaud and Denny Solomona, have been banned for homophobic abuse, Bristol made a statement of their own.

No sooner had they won promotion to the Premiership than they decided to go ursine. This decision to ‘go bear’ appears to have been made regardless of them sharing their new mascot with the Bristol Bear Bar, a favourite haunt of the city’s homosexual residents for the last 15 years. Many of the clientele are bearded, and call themselves ‘bears’.

The fact that Bristol have boldly gone where no other overwhelmingly heterosexual rugby club have gone before has been met with incredulity by many of their fans.

A spokesperson for Bristol Sport, the company of billionaire Steve Lansdown which owns the club previously known as Bristol Rugby, then stretched credulity to breaking point by declaring they knew all about Bristol Bear Bar – but had pressed on with the rebrand regardless.

Lansdown played an active part in the announcement of the Bear rebrand, waxing lyrical about the animal’s suitability. “It defends for its life when it needs to, is aggressive in attack when it needs to be. We need that sort of spirit going forward...”

The question many Bristol fans were asking is what bears have got to do with Bristol, especially when the crest of the 130year-old club features two unicorns?

Another question is why opt for American-style marketing which has nothing to do with your own cultural heritage? American Football’s Chicago Bears, yes, because there have been bears wandering around the Great Lakes forever, but bears have not been seen on the shores of the Bristol Channel since we were living in caves.

This Bristol rebrand would have made more sense if it had drawn from local history and culture, for instance as one of Britain’s great ports. Take your pick from Buccaneers, Mariners, Dockers, Seafarers or Engineers.

Or better still, rather than making a bear’s backside of it, stay true to your tradition and be Bristol Rugby, in the same way West Country rivals Bath and Gloucester have.