Sam Cougar

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Sam Cougar's bourbon whiskey has been produced in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, U.S.A. since 1865. It is an export-only brand owned by Foster's that is bottled and sold only in Australia, where it is a popular bourbon whiskey. It is 37% alc./vol.

[edit] Advertising campaign details

Cougar is remembered for its advertising campaign "Five Cougars Thanks!!" This ad was created in conjunction with an external marketing agency and managed internally at Foster's by Bettina Freshney, now widely acknowledged as a leader in the beverage marketing area and the Marketing Manager at the time. Ms Freshney subsequently went on to work in the USA, running Foster's Wine Estates Innovation Division. The ad showed a male standing in line at a club trying to remember the drinks he was to order... saying the five drinks over and over to himself. When he gets to the bar a large breasted barmaid with a COUGAR BOURBON tank top on asks for his order. He is so dazzled by her "top" that he orders "Five Cougars Thanks". Later that year there was a sequel to this ad where upon entering the pub a male is told by his mates to get a "Cougar with a Slice of Lemon". The barmaid has to stretch up high and bend low and the guy sees her underwear and cleavage. This advertising soon led to some bad press where female bar staff were tired of "every male" asking for '5 Cougars' that they didn't want.

That said, the ad went on to achieve iconic status in Australian pop culture at the time. It was referenced on countless TV and radio shows as well as being the subject of numerous skits on the comedy show "Full Frontal" every week for 3 months.

The ad also delivered what ads like that are designed to deliver - higher brand awareness and higher sales. Sales jumped 34% and brand awareness jumped 63%. The ad to this day is one of the most remembered and effective ads ever aired in the beverage space in Australia and is arguably one of the most remembered ads in modern day Australian television.