Local makes semifinals in beer ad competition
Mascots are no strangers to beer companies, from Bud Light's Spuds MacKenzie to Pabst Blue Ribbon's Cool Blue to that dog on every Lagunitas label.
One Davenport resident is seeking to join his place among that elite group, and he has gotten pretty far in his quest. Bear Champlain has made the semifinals in Montucky Cold Snacks' first mascot contest. If all goes well, Champlain's face could be featured on 100,000 of the Montana craft beer company's cans sold throughout the country.
Champlain secured his spot by uploading a 30-second advertisement to his Instagram page of him in laid-back but humorous situations involving cans of Montucky.
Founded in 2012 in Bozeman, Montana, by Chad Zeitner and Jeremy Gregory, Montucky Cold Snacks is a growing player in the craft beer world that caters toward laid-back, outdoorsy consumers with a lower alcohol volume than many of its peers. The beers are sold in 21 states, and the company is looking to expand its reach through a mascot contest.
Champlain, an employee at the Parish Publick House, said his business started selling Montucky last year and he enjoys it. He was approached by a representative of the company for the contest.
“(They) told me about their origin story, and I was like, `Oh, you guys are really rad. You guys give back to all these awesome charities and local communities,'” he said. “It was a combination of tasty beer and good people that made me want to support them.”
Champlain also said the contest would allow him to harness his social media skills further. He also runs a tattoo business called Inky Needle where he showcases clients' new ink jobs on his Instagram page.
“This is the perfect opportunity to use all these skills I've been practicing in content creation for something fun and totally lighthearted,” he said.
For the video, Champlain collaborated with his partner, Danielle Irby, the co-owner of Atlas Design Interiors.
“She's got a really good eye for aesthetics, and I've been practicing making reels on Instagram and growing it and doing the whole social media hustle,” he said. “She was like my director.”
The video, posted to Champlain's Instagram page @thegeminikilla, features a montage set to a remix of Lipps Inc's “Funkytown” of Champlain using the heavy metal hand sign to open two cans of Montucky at once, fly-fishing in a river for a Montucky can, administering a Montucky tattoo and floating in a raft on the river with many cans. It begins with him saying “Life's too short to not drink Montucky. Come hang out for a day of fun.”
Champlain said he and Irby had bounced off different ideas, including renting a sailboat to recreate a scene from “Titanic,” but that idea
was ultimately scrapped.
“There's not really a theme to it,” he said. “It's kind of just a bunch of random stuff, so we were like, `What funny stuff can we do and incorporate Montucky into it?'”
Champlain said the response has been very positive from those he knows.
“People I don't see very often are like `I've been voting for you!' and I've been like `Yeah, thank you!'” he said.
In addition to being featured on Montucky cans, potential prizes feature anything from the winner being featured on Montucky billboards, their face on the side of a NASCAR vehicle, throwing the opening pitch at a Reno Aces minor league baseball game or being appointed an emissary to the Republic of Molossia, an 11.3-acre micronation claiming sovereignty over
land in the Nevada desert.
Champlain said he liked the idea of having his face on the side of a NASCAR race car.
“I don't even watch NASCAR, but something about that seems really exciting,” he said.
However, the biggest prize for Champlain would be to continue to rep Montucky.
“I definitely preach about their beer and drink their beer more than the average consumer probably, so I'll likely continue to give free advertising for them,” he said.
As for why people should vote for Champlain?
“I'm a Santa Cruz local who enjoys drinking beer and playing with my dogs,” he said.
The contest runs through Friday. For information, visit Montuckycoldsnacks.com/montuckymascot/.