Rainier Beer to Be the Star of Crowd-Funded Documentary

Washington’s favorite beer and its incredible advertising history are the subjects of a potential documentary.

Rainier Beer immortalized its brand in the minds of Pacific Northwesterners with its creative, often surreal Wild Rainiers television commercial campaign. You remember, Raaaaainier Beeeer.

Rainier: A Beer Odyssey is being crowd-funded by fans.

Support for the Rainier beer documentary has been tremendous with the project already raising more than half of its $75,000 goal.

Rainier ads were legendary in the 1970s and ’80s.

The initial campaign ran from 1974 until 1987 but its legacy is everlasting. Look, I was born 5 years after the ads stopped airing and I know about Rainier’s legacy from well before I was a beer drinker. Rainier: A Beer Odyssey seeks to not only present the commercials that inspired a generation of Washingtonians and document their creation but to restore the ads themselves.

Rainier features a pedigreed team of passionate creators.

Leading the charge is director Isaac Olsen, who has worked on several documentaries, and the Peterson brothers, who worked with Olsen on Walk Don’t Run: The Story of the Ventures. The project features the likes of Billy Bob Thornton and country music star Brad Paisley.

Supporting the project promises some pretty cool prizes.

All Kickstarter campaigns feature prizes as a “thank you” for contributions and donations. This Rainier beer documentary boasts a litany of sweet keepsakes and merchandise. From patches to hats, t-shirts, posters, film credits, and more; it’s pretty tempting to me personally to separate myself from some money to support the project.

When will the Rainier beer documentary come out?

It’s hard to say when the film will see its release, especially since it is an “all or nothing” campaign, meaning that if it doesn’t hit its goal, the project could be shelved.