The Great Root Bear

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The Great Root Bear is the popular mascot for A&W Root Beer, an American soft drink. It was first used in 1974 by Canada's A&W, and was later adopted by the American chain. In the late 1990s, the Great Root Bear's role as mascot was reduced for the restaurant chain, ultimately being replaced by "The Burger Family", although it still appears in various capacities for the restaurants and on A&W Root Beer cases in Canada. In a long-running television advertising campaign for the Canadian A&W chain, his theme was a tuba-driven jingle entitled "Ba-Dum, Ba-Dum" which was released as a single by Attic Records in Canada, credited to "Major Ursus", a play on the constellation name Ursa Major, which means "great bear".