Part 2 of Brett McMahon’s speech at the Bundaberg Rum 1961 release.
I somehow convinced Sam to buy a Bentley that had been owned by the Governor of Western
Australia. To market and promote sales, he would fill the boot with cases of Bundy,
and rolls of photos, and head off into the bush. His marketing approach was simple
but effective. He would park the car at the front of the pub, which always drew
a bit of a crowd in a small country town, walk in and give the publican a bottle
of Bundy, and then offer to shout the bar. The publican was happy because a few
extras would walk in, it cost him nothing but made him the cost of the shout, and
proved there were drinkers of what soon became Australia’s favourite spirit. Inevitably,
before Sam left, the publican would have bought the balance of the case, signed up
as a client, and replaced the beer ads in his outdoor displays with expertly finished
colour photos advertising Bundy Rum. Occasionally, he would also give dad a room
for the night!
Sam had a good and generous heart, and was a patron of the nurses at Sydney “Rum”
hospital. When US ships would arrive on Rest and Recreation from Vietnam, he would
put on a fund raiser for the nurses by inviting the visiting crew who would pay and
the nurses to a party at the Argyle. The drink, of course was Sam’s Bundaberg Rum
Punch made up in a 44 Gallon stainless barrel for each 500 guests. Sonia Hopkins
was also a patron of the nurses, and she met Sam’s brother Bill at one of Sam’s fund
raisers. As you may remember, they married and went on to become Australia’s Prime
Minister and First Lady.
Sam was a bit of a skier and sailor, so, when the Sundeck lodge at Perisher Valley
was burnt down and rebuilt in the early 1960’s, he offered to reopen the bar with
free Bundies for the first weekend. That’s a major reason why liquor sales in the
snow are still so strong. As a boatie, he was always happy to offer a bottle of
Bundy as a weekly prize, as long as the club stocked it on their shelves. They are
two of the reasons Sam coined the phrase “fends off the wickedest of chills”, a successful
and long lived marketing slogan for the brand.
These three main marketing initiatives, in pubs and clubs and in the snow are at
the core of how Sam McMahon quickly grew sales of Bundy to become the most popular
Australian spirit, a position I am heartened it has retained to this day.
The Bundy bear made his first appearance when Sam sponsored the Sydney “Bundaberg
Bears” ice hockey team, and he decided the team need a mascot. Already well padded,
and in a primarily white uniform, the goalie would put on a bear head and skate around
the rink to the cheers of the teams’ supporters. I’m glad the bear has provided
Australia’s iconic spirit with both a cheerful and humorous persona ever since.
Another aspect of the history of Bundaberg Rum, and a proud one indeed, is that if
it wasn’t for Bundy Rum, Sydney’s famous Rocks area would have been demolished in
the 1970’s. Lend Lease and architect Harry Seidler had convinced the Sydney City
Council that the Rocks should be demolished in order to allow the development of
the city’s CBD to the area under and around the Harbour Bridge, and provide a modern
compliment to the Opera House. Sam recognised the unique history of the area and
was determined to stop the bulldozers. Profits from the Rum business allowed Sam
to support Jack Mundey in his “Green Bans” that allowed them to save the buildings
that are now a significant tourist destination which represents much of Sydney’s
colourful history. In establishing the Argyle Tavern and Argyle Arts Centre, he
not only gave those historic buildings a new raison d’être, but they also allowed
Sam to fund the court battle that the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority bought
against him in an attempt to bankrupt him in retribution for successfully defeating
their plans. If it wasn’t for the success of Bundy Rum, however, the developers
would have succeeded in destroying the Rocks.
