The Guinness Toucan
Miguel B
You have probably seen the Toucan bird associated to the Guinness logo everywhere and in all type of Guinness merchandise.
You may wonder what has a Toucan to do with the most international Irish beer? It doesn't look like there are toucans flying in Ireland, right?
The Guinness toucan began as a pelican in 1935. The artist responsible for the early Guinness ads put together some initial sketches for a Guinness campaign featuring animals - since Dublin zoo was probably the most popular attraction in Dublin at the time - and mainly a pelican balancing seven pints of Guinness on its beak, together with this slogan: "A wonderful bird the pelican, its bill can hold more than its belly can. It can hold in its beak enough for a week: I simply don't know how the hell he can."
This slogan was rejected and then the bird was replaced by a toucan, with the following slogan:
"If a Guinness a day is good for you, imagine what Toucan do!" (Toucan pronounced as 'two can')
The ad became highly successful and since then the toucan has become an icon for Guinness.