Carlsberg Elephant Beer Celebrates 50 Years

09/11/2009, Packaging Europe

November 2009 marks the anniversary of the Carlsberg Elephant Beer. Fifty years after its creation, Carlsberg Elephant is a true Carlsberg classic and some might even call it a design icon.

One winter morning November 1959 the first trucks loaded with Carlsberg Elephant Beer took off from Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen. No doubt this was an eye-catcher; on the back of the trucks, both the motorized and horse-drawn ones, was a small turquoise elephant who, surrounded by a nice warm and dense jungle, declared itself as charming, elegant and elephant.

The Elephant was on the street

Back in 1955 Carlsberg's Export Lager Beer was exported to a number of countries. The label was ornamented with Carlsberg's perhaps most famous landmark; the Elephant Gate. This resulted in the beer becoming known as the elephant beer on several markets, which ultimately inspired the launch of a new beer, based on the recipe of Special Brew and Export Lager Beer. The beer was officially named Carlsberg Elephant Beer.

Carlsberg Elephant is still brewed at Carlsberg Breweries in Denmark, and is exported around the world to markets such as Iceland, New Zealand and Belgium just to name a few. Some markets brew their own Carlsberg Elephant beer locally according to the original recipe.

The Elephant Beer was launched in a time where Danish design, architecture and crafts achieved great international success. Carlsberg has a long tradition of producing promotional posters reflected by the changing times, and as a result poster artist Kjeld Nielsen was asked to develop an icon that could be used in advertising. He came up with a small blue elephant that almost looked like something out of a children's book.

To the international audience this may seem somewhat misleading, considering that the beer definitely is not intended for children. But to fully grasp the geniality of Nielsen's design, one needs to understand the Danish sense of humour and subtle irony.  The blue elephant soon became a much loved symbol and was used extensively for more than a decade. Today the Elephant Beer's mascot is even considered a design icon by many artists and graphic designers. Kjeld Nielsen's work is regarded as some of the most original promotional materials in Carlsberg's history. In occasion of the 50 year anniversary new enamel signs with Nielsen's blue elephant have been produced.

More info:
www.carlsberggroup.com