Columbia Brewery (Kokanee)

The Secret 'Squatch: the hidden Sasquatch wasn't there on day one. In the early '90s, as market share slipped, a marketer noticed drinkers loved hunting the 'hidden rabbits' on Molson Old Style — so the design team tucked a tiny Sasquatch into the mountain art. The controversy: the modern label's mountain isn't even in the Kootenays — it's a Whistler backcountry cliff ~700 km from the glacier the beer is named after.

The founding thesisFour Kootenay-area breweries (Fernie, Nelson, Trail, Cranbrook) pooled resources as 'Interior Breweries' and built a central plant in Creston for access to pure Kootenay River watershed water.

1. 1959
   Kokanee born

   Kokanee Glacier Pilsner introduced to the BC interior market.

2. 1974
   Labatt acquires

   Labatt buys Columbia Brewery, scaling Kokanee from regional favorite to national brand.

3. 1986
   Peak

   The WestCan 'Kokanee Ranger' & Sasquatch ads drive a ~30% BC market share peak.

4. 1996
   'B.C. or B.S.?'

   Labatt brews Kokanee in Ontario to cut shipping; Molson attacks with the 'B.C. or B.S.?' campaign.

5. 2001
   Home again

   All Kokanee production moved back exclusively to Creston to keep it authentic.