PHENOMINAL!

October 23, 2009 8:49 AM

SoftDrinkFilter: Recently, Barr's have re-introduced the old style branding on their cans of Irn Bru (like so). But something has been bothering me since forever: what is the guy in the middle supposed to be?

He's holding aloft a glass of the girder-based drink and dressed in a white top and shorts with a kind of blue bib on. I remember asking about this when I was a wean and never got an answer. Is there anyone here who can put me out of my misery?

posted by littleredspiders to food & drink (7 comments total)

I can't explain the clothing, but his pose reminds me of a highland dancer.
posted by kidbritish at 8:56 AM on October 23

if this is the same guy, then he looks to me like an old-timey boxer or some similar sort of athlete. At least he has the right outfit and is working on his muscles.

I'm no boxing historian, but this logo may have been made before the modern tropes of boxing (gloves, silk robes, etc.) became common, which would explain their absence.

He might also be a circus strongman, but the outfit is not quite right.
posted by AtomicBee at 9:00 AM on October 23

Or I could just read the site where I got that image and we have an answer:

Adam Brown, a famous highland athlete from Shotts, featured in the label design.
posted by AtomicBee at 9:02 AM on October 23 [1 favorite]

To me it looks like a runner drinking ambrosia.

I haven't had an Irn bru in a while... and I miss it.
posted by elmono at 9:05 AM on October 23

I've always thought it was a runner.
posted by fire&wings at 9:07 AM on October 23

Further down on the link AtomicBee posted, it says that Adam Brown was replaced by an unnamed Cambridge rower in 1922. The oar he held aloft in the original pic was substituted by a glass of the drink and that image appears to be the same as the one in the pic littleredspiders linked.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 9:08 AM on October 23

AtomicBee & TWPL are right. From the AG Barr press release:

BARRS IRON BREW was launched in 1901 and the trademark 'Iron Man' was originally based on one of Scotland's first super-sportsmen, Adam Brown, a famous Highland athlete from Shotts at the turn of the Century. However in 1922, the iconic ‘Iron-Man’ image was replaced by a more contemporary sporting image of the day, a Cambridge rower. It is this image that dominated the re-launch of the brand name to ‘IRN-BRU’ in 1947. The image lasted until 1988 when it was replaced with a more contemporary look.

posted by zamboni at 9:35 AM on October 23