The Drink Cart: Nearly Summer Vibes

We're starting to get into real summer mode now. So we're sharing beer promotions, meat hats, hall of fame UX patterns, great letterhead, iconic graffiti and the story of the Harvey Wallbanger.

Today’s “newsletter” is action packed:

• Iconic 1975 movie beer promotions and Big Green Keggs

• Pizza Tracker UX, the state of search, innovations in ticket souvenirs and iconic letterhead

• New leaders in baseball statistics and beefy baseball hats

• And the advertising creation and only use of Galliano you’ll ever need

1. Jaws Beers

You can’t not love the return of this 1975 Narragansett beer in its original can design and in Jaws boxes for the summer. The movie is great for the summer and gives off such booze vibes around this beer, wine and apricot brandy. But it was the iconic beer Quint crushes with his hands that keeps people want coming back for more.

2. Everything is the Dominos Pizza Tracker

I love this post about CNN’s coverage of the Trump trial utilizing a very similar pattern to the Dominos Pizza Tracker - which incidentally is the greatest UX breakthrough in the two decades. It’s hall of fame worthy. This amazing feature is coming up on 16 years old and as of last year had followed 1.8 billion orders. And yes, I think about the pizza tracker a lot.

3. Great letterhead, incredible letters

I love old letterhead. The idea that Monty Python had their own letterhead and it looked this cool makes it even more funny that this example is about arguing with the censorship board over content in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I can’t imagine the movie with out some of those lines. This was such a find from All the Right Movies.

4. The state of search

I spent a lot of time this week discussing content and how search might change over the next few years with AI. This comic by Chaz Hutton kind of sums up the perception - and reality - of consumers feelings about Google search results currently. And if you add in the unhinged AI Overviews that people have shared recently, then this is just the start.

5. Best Train Graffiti of all time?

No notes. This is such an incredible find from Ab Gamble. Mmmmm donuts.

6. Big Green Keggs

More beer content! Since it is most definetely grilling season, this brand collaboration between the Big Green Egg and Miller Lite is probably one of the best I’ve seen in a while. The limited edition $350 item is available daily and according to Fast Company is a “quarter-barrel keg-size holder that perfectly matches the iconic green outer shell and shape of the Big Green Egg. Thanks to the Kegg’s ceramic chamber, just a little ice will keep your beer cold from first light to that last steak.”

Although another honorable mention in this beer promotion category has to go to Pabst Blue Ribbon and their 180 pack selling for an inflation busting $124.

7. Retro Event Tickets

This is a very cool fan service idea that the Indiana Pacers are doing. Basically giving fans, in an age of digital tickets, their own souvenir ticket when they go into the game and then the ability to upload photos that you can always scan to remember the night.

8. The changing of the guard

This was a cool week for baseball stat nerds. Major League baseball merged statistics and data with the Negro Leagues and that changed a few all time leaders - making famous player Josh Gibson the new all-time batting average leader at .372 passing Ty Cobb.

Topps worked with the Negro League Basbeall Museum to create a limited run of baseball cards - including special foil cards limited to 372 versions to mark the occasion. If you build a time machine and go back and see a player, Josh Gibson would be on your list for sure. And yes, I broke my nearly 1 month break from baseball cards today.

9. Hat of the week: Winston-Salem Italian Beefs

Mangia, Mangia! Since The Bear season three is just a few weeks away, this hat pays tribute to Chicago’s favourite sandwich the Italian beef. The Winston-Salem Dash are a High-A Minor League affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. The urge to get this hat, especially after a rare Blue Jays sweep of the White Sox was strong - but i was victorious. Although I was also tempted to go with this hat from the Round Rock Express who had a limited edition Custom Brisket State hat.

10. Last call: The Drink Cart Harvey Wallbanger

Here’s a cocktail that is easy to make and even has a tie in to advertising. The story goes that the Harvey Wallbanger was created back in 1969 by the importing company of Italian herbal liquor Galliano to drive sales.

George Bednar, marketing director at McKesson and a cartoonist came up with a series of ads featuring a surfer character and the tagline, “Harvey Wallbanger is the name. And I can be made.” Now, sure as is the case with every cocktail, maybe they didn’t create it. But it’s a great story.

The drink tastes like a creamsicle - which some have said is a bit of a trend this summer. A quick story: The last time I was at a resort in Mexico, the pool bar had a bottle of Galliano. I asked the bartender if he’d ever made anything with it and he said he didn’t even know what it was. 5 minutes later I showed him how to make me and my wife a frozen Harvey Wallbanger that was the talk of the pool that day. Highly recommend.

The Original Harvey Wallbanger

• 6 oz Orange Juice

• 1 oz Vodka

• 1/2 oz Galliano

• Stir it with some ice and serve with an orange slice.

Welp, that’s another newsletter in the books, even if it was a little late. What did you think? Drop me a comment or question below or tell me how your own Wallbanger turned out.

The Drink Cart is a weekly newsletter of advertising, pop culture, baseball and cocktails from Jackson Murphy.