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
edit
References
edit- ^ "A beer for Queensland tastes - the history of XXXX and Castlemaine Perkins Brewery". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ "Our story". XXXX. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Mr Fourex returns in new ad campaign". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ "XXXX Celebrates Summer of Cricket with Mr Fourex". Lion. Retrieved 22 November 2024.>
- ^ a b Tabloid_2.indd Archived 19 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "History". Lion - Beer, Spirits & Wine Australia. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
- ^ 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.