Bill Stein: Critters & Creatures

In 2016, I was helping my father-in-law, commercial artist Bill Stein (1923-2020), prepare for a move by sorting through his flat files of artwork and sketches accumulated over his 60+ year career. Lots of Hamm’s work, naturally, and a drawer filled with Inky Lou posters. But there were other critters and creatures, too – animal and human, whimsical and fantastical. 

I hadn't realized how many times Bill had to help brand a company through the personality and antics of an advertising mascot. I put together a booklet for him, "Critters & Creatures," that compiled examples of the characters that Bill had drawn (and in several cases, created), along with his brief memories about each of them. This is my introduction to the collection, along with four of the best-known mascots.

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In the world of advertising, they’re known as “critters,” the popular pitchmen of the Leo Burnett Company. The Chicago ad agency was behind such 20th Century marketing icons as Tony the Tiger, Charlie the Tuna, The Jolly Green Giant, the Pillsbury Doughboy, even the Marlboro Man, to name just a few.

But Leo Burnett staffers weren’t the only Midwesterners giving animated life to consumer products during the post-World War II era. About 400 miles northwest of the Leo Burnett Company, Minneapolis ad agency Campbell Mithun was having its own success with the Hamm’s Bear. 

Bill Stein was one of a handful of artists illustrating The Bear. For 29 years, in ads, posters, brochures and displays, Bill put the lovably goofy bruin through a seemingly endless series of embarrassing situations and beer-drinking brotherhood. 

But Bill’s involvement with advertising mascots went beyond Hamm’s. Impressed by his work on The Bear, others came to Bill in hopes of having him create their own enduring icon, or at least, a warm and humorous character to publicly represent their organization. 

You could populate a forest with all the various characters that have sprung from Bill’s drawing board over the years. And most of them wouldn’t seem out of place there. Bill’s characters are frequently denizens of the Midwestern region where he’s lived all his life. In Bill’s illustrations, bears, foxes, otters, raccoons, and even a certain gopher can be seen cavorting around pristine balsam-and pine-rimmed lakes, rolling hills and frozen ponds.

It goes beyond just familiarity with the local flora and fauna. A child of North Dakota ranchers, and a long-standing member of the Izaak Walton League, Bill has a deep love of nature. Investing each character with a little of himself, it was probably inevitable that his creations would on occasion give voice to Bill’s own feelings about responsible stewardship of the environment.

He explains it this way: “Animals have a way of endearing themselves to people, whether they’re wild or they’re tame, and people will listen to words coming from an animal that they wouldn’t listen to coming from a human – I live in the environment. And I want you to take care of it, you’re destroying it.” 

Which is not to say that every critter that Bill drew was a soapbox for his beliefs. Sometimes, they said nothing at all, content with being all fun or all business. And despite their being for a wide variety of companies and purposes, they all share many traits in common. A smiling, friendly face. An impish sense of humor. A big-hearted gusto for life. 

When you come down to it, Bill’s advertising characters weren’t really salesmen, they were entertainers. “You have to have public acceptance – that’s the true hallmark of whether they’re going to be successful or not successful.”

“You wouldn’t use a wildebeest to sell beer.”

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Quotes are drawn from interviews of Bill by Craig McNamara and by Hamm’s Club member, Peter Slanga.

Text © 2016 by Craig McNamara. 
Characters and illustrations © by their respective owners.