Colt 45 started in Baltimore in 1963, and even the name had a local sports connection. The brand now says it was named for Baltimore Colts running back Jerry Hill, who wore jersey #45. So right from the start, Colt 45 had that mix of beer, sports, attitude, and local pride built into it.
But before Billy Dee Williams later made Colt 45 famous with “works every time,” the brand had another unforgettable advertising campaign — the calm, silent man who barely reacted to anything.
In the 1960s Colt 45 malt liquor commercials, Billy Van sat at a table while the world around him went completely crazy. There could be noise, danger, action, beautiful women, strange characters, or total chaos, and he would barely move.
Then the Colt 45 was poured.
That was the joke. Nothing impressed him until the glass filled up.
The campaign came from W.B. Doner, the Baltimore ad agency behind Colt 45’s early advertising for National Brewing. Their idea was not to make another ordinary beer commercial. They wanted Colt 45 to feel different — a “completely unique experience” — and these ads certainly were. They played more like strange little comedy sketches than standard drink ads.
Even the music helped. The odd, bouncy tune came from Robert Maxwell’s “Solfeggio,” better known to classic TV fans from Ernie Kovacs’ Nairobi Trio. It gave the commercials that slightly offbeat, almost dreamlike feel.
Looking back, these ads were pure 1960s advertising: stylish, weird, simple, and memorable. A Baltimore-born malt liquor, a silent comic setup, a familiar piece of oddball TV music, and one perfect reaction when the drink was poured.
Do you remember the Colt 45 man who stayed calm through everything?
