Have you ever witnessed a Fox photobomb? This is precisely what happened during a Wild Rose Brewery product photoshoot at Cascade Ponds near Banff, Alberta.
It was as if Wraspberry Ale characters Rosie and Reggie Fox called out from the beer can label to stir up some mischief.
Just a few minutes into set up, a real-life Fox walked out of the forest and lay down about five meters away from the photographers.
This type of spooky synchronicity can happen when a brand character grows out of the soil upon which the business is built.
Wild Rose Brewery came into existence in southern Alberta WWII Air Force hangar, where founders Alan and Mike grew the business from the seed of a diehard group of fans into a major industry player.
They achieved this primarily by supporting local community events during the early days while raising their young Beerations.
The more the little beers socialized with Albertans during events like ultimate frisbee tournaments, adventure races, and block parties, the more they started to dress and act like them, thus gaining acceptance into the group.
Now fully grown, you can read all about these unique characters by visiting the core brands section of the Wild Rose Brewery website.
It is a little like logging onto an MMORPG or massive multiplayer online role-playing game.
Each beer character is a Chimera like the human-animal hybrids of ancient Greek mythology but uniquely Albertian.
The universe in which the game is played is soulful southern Alberta from the Rocky Mountains to downtown Calgary and out over the vast rolling eastern prairies.
Not only is the Wild Rose Brewery brand adventure super fun, the beers are also nectar of the Gods delicious.
Bringing new Beerations to life at Wild Rose Brewery is a collaborative affair more like a family reunion than a cold sober product quality test.
First, everyone goes quiet corner to form a totally unbiased impression of the recipe, followed by a lively team debate.
Recipes with high promise are then run through a tight filter of market research, and this is where the brainstorming stage of Brand Character creation can begin.
Be sure to check out the entire Herd of Wild Rose Brews at this year’s Canmore Highland Games Festival, happening September 4th and 5th.
Chances are you will gain allegiance to one of the unique characters. I, for one, am a big fan of Bison jazz singer Melvin, aka Velvet Fog.
Based on what happened to the Photographers at Cascade Ponds, I imagine that were I to bring a can of Velvet Fog with me on a hike through the Panther Valley, where Bison roam free, I could very well have a run-in with one of those hairy beasts.
