Colt 45 is an American

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storag ...

malt liquor Malt liquor is a type of mass market beer with high alcohol content, most closely associated with North America. Legally, it often includes any alcoholic beverage with 5% or more alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common usage, i ...

made and primarily marketed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, originally introduced by National Brewing Company in the spring of 1963. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the National Brewing Company and its brands (including Colt 45) are today owned by the

Pabst Brewing Company The Pabst Brewing Company () is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and was, by 1889, named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently a holding company which contracts the brewing of over ...

. Colt 45 is available today in a multitude of packages and sizes. Cans are available in 12-, 16-, 24-, and 32-ounce packages and bottles are available in 7-, 12-, 16-, 18-, 22-, 32-, and 40-ounce packages. Cans are available in multi-packs including: 6-, 12-, 15-, 18-, 24-, 30-, 36-, and 42-packs of 12-ounce cans.

History

National Brewing Company introduced Colt 45 in 1963. Previously, the only major national brand of malt liquor was Country Club. The label was designed with a kicking horse and horseshoe, a reference to its "extra kick" compared to competing brands. Listed on the Pabst website as a "Fun Fact", Colt 45 was named after running back #45 Jerry Hill of the 1963

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

and not the .45 caliber handgun ammunition round. The credited name change came because of malt liquor’s association with violence in disenfranchised neighborhoods.

Advertising

Throughout most of the 60s and 70s, Colt 45 was marketed towards the suburban white-collar middle class demographic. To this end, in a memorable ad campaign that lasted over 15 years,

Billy Van William Allan Van Evera (11 August 1934 – 8 January 2003), known by the stage name Billy Van, was a Canadian comedian, actor, and singer. Biography Van was born in Toronto, Ontario, and dropped out of Bloor Collegiate Institute in Grade ...

portrayed a gentleman in suit and tie quietly sitting at a small table and taking little notice of all the activity going on around him, until a waiter or someone showed up with a schooner glass and a can of Colt 45. Music resembling ''Song of

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'' played in the background while a voice-over announcer intoned: In subsequent commercials, the surroundings became increasingly peculiar, including, but not limited to: *sitting on the shore of a busy beach *at the end of an airport runway *on an ice rink, in front of the goal during a hockey game *in a bullring, during a bullfight *an encounter with a shark in the middle of the ocean or bay *at the bottom of a ski jump (which featured a cameo by

Redd Foxx John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movement. ...

) The one constant in each of these commercials was Van himself, who remained unperturbed while sitting at the table, though in some instances he became indirectly involved in the tumult unfolding around him. Van won a 1975 Clio Award for one of these commercials. By 1978, the "waiting man" commercials were replaced with more contemporary ads and the slogan "That Dynamite Taste"; one of the new commercials briefly featured an unknown

Ted Danson Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. ...

. Beginning in 1980, Colt 45 began a long association with actor

Billy Dee Williams William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor. He appeared as Lando Calrissian in the '' Star Wars'' franchise, first in the early 1980s for ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), and thir ...

, who appeared in their print and billboard ads as well as on television. The product's slogan during that era, as stated by Williams in his television commercials, was, "It works every time." Williams responded indifferently to criticism of his appearances in the liquor commercials. In ''

Mr. Freedom ''Mr. Freedom'' is a 1968 superhero film by the expatriate American photographer and filmmaker William Klein (photographer), William Klein. An anti-imperialist satirical farce, it concerns the exploits of the titular white nationalist superhero ...

'', the title character drinks several cans of Colt 45 before suiting up from sheriff to white nationalist

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

Related products

Colt 45 makers experimented briefly with a

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-flavored derivative, marketed under the name Cool Colt, in the early 1990s. Available in limited quantities, it was largely met with puzzlement from loyal customers. While it was in production, the slogan for Cool Colt was "Taste the Cool." A double

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, w ...

version—titled Colt 45 Double Malt—is also produced; and in certain regions, such as Montana, has 8.5% abv. Sold in only certain regions, the label is distinguishable by two

horseshoe A horseshoe is a fabricated product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human ...

s rather than the standard single one. In 2011, Pabst Brewing introduced Blast by Colt 45.

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

signed on to promote the beverage as Blast's "brand ambassador". The 12% ABV fruit-flavored malt beverage has been criticized for targeting underage drinkers. In order to cooperate with FDA regulations, Blast by Colt does not contain

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine chemical classification, class. It is mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally as a Nootropic, cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional perfor ...

taurine Taurine (), or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, is an organic compound that is widely distributed in animal tissues. It is a major constituent of bile and can be found in the large intestine, and accounts for up to 0.1% of total human body weight. I ...

, or

guarana Guaraná ( from the Portuguese ''guaraná'' ), ''Paullinia cupana'', syns. ''P. crysan, P. sorbilis'') is a climbing plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guaraná has large leaves and cl ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colt 45 (Malt Liquor) American beer brands Pabst Brewing Company Products introduced in 1963