It shouldn't happen to a dog

Here's a little titbit about the famous McEwan's Cavalier brand. Its heyday is long past but the moustachioed swaggerer with a foaming mug of ale is still to be seen on old pub signs all over Scotland, and recognisable to almost everyone.

But McEwan's earlier efforts at branding weren't so successful.

A memoir of a former employee notes delicately, "The old advert of a hand holding up a globe with the British Empire being shown in red and on which the sun never set was not in favour with the Irish."

There was then apparently a short-lived run of ads with a dog motif, but McEwan's competitors made fun of the beer as not being fit for a dog.

This was then the impetus for the management to call a halt to the dog adverts and come up with a new character which became the Cavalier – some say to directly compete against Younger's "Old Father William".

With the brewery long since closed, the marketing of the beer sold under its name is now in the hands of a sales and marketing company with a passion for brands of distinction, cherished by consumers, who say things like "Regarded by its drinkers as a local hero, it inspires patriotism, delivers choice and consumer passion in droves."