Mr Fourex

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Mr Fourex in a 1920 advertisement StateLibQld 2 162011 Fourex beer advertisement by Castlemaine Perkins Ltd., 1920.jpg
Mr Fourex in a 1920 advertisement

Castlemaine XXXX's mascot is Mr Fourex - a jovial cartoon man in a suit with a boater hat, who features on the City side of the Fourex Brewery at Milton, Queensland and has been used in advertising since 1924. [1] [2] [3] He was the face of XXXX advertising campaigns until 1967 and afterwards remained featured on bottles and packaging. [3] He was used for a billboard campaign in 2005, [3] and a limited edition XXXX Gold can in 2019 as part of a "retro campaign". [4]

The true identity for the inspiration behind the cartoon remains a mystery. [5] [6] Mr Fourex is sometimes said to be modelled after Paddy Fitzgerald, a former director of the company, [3] however Mr Fourex had been conceived in 1924, and Fitzgerald started with XXXX only in circa 1933. [7] A second theory is that the cartoon is modelled on a well-known dwarf who sold newspapers in the inner city suburb of Fortitude Valley in the late 1920s. [3]

He was included in the 2004 List of Queensland Heritage Icons established by the National Trust of Queensland. [5]

See also

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References

  1. "A beer for Queensland tastes - the history of XXXX and Castlemaine Perkins Brewery". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  2. "Our story". XXXX. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mr Fourex returns in new ad campaign". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  4. "XXXX Celebrates Summer of Cricket with Mr Fourex". Lion. Retrieved 22 November 2024.>
  5. 1 2 Tabloid_2.indd Archived 19 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "History". Lion - Beer, Spirits & Wine Australia. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  7. McGinness, Mark. "Fitzgerald, Patrick Charles Mitchell (Paddy) (1896–1984)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN   978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN   1833-7538. OCLC   70677943 . Retrieved 22 June 2013.