A Louisiana-based brewery has launched a new leprechaun-themed beer ahead of St. Patrick's Day.
Parish Brewing Company, based in Lafayette, LA, has launched the limited-edition pilsner cans that pay homage to the Mobile Leprechaun - an alleged sighting of the famous Irish mythological creature in a tree in Mobile, Alabama, in 2006.
The company's limited-edition pilsner cans will feature the now-famous amateur sketch of the leprechaun that was featured in a 2006 news story. The cans will be distributed for sale between Mardi Gras (beginning February 25) and St. Patrick's Day.
The hilariously vague sketch, which provides only the most basic of details about the leprechaun's appearance, is something of a cultural icon in Mobile to this day.
Read more: ‘Leprechaun’ is not a native Irish word, scholars reveal
Andrew Godley, owner of Parish Brewing Company, confirmed the limited-edition cans and said that the Mobile Leprechaun was still a cultural phenomenon in towns neighboring Mobile.
"Just for your information, outside of Mobile the Mobile Leprechaun is still a big deal,” said Godley. “It’s a hilarious bit of pop culture folklore.”
Godley also said that Lower Alabama is a prominent market for Parish and that it made sense to make use of seasonal marketing.
He said that reporter Brian Johnson from the original news report in 2006 deserved to win an award.
.@ParishBrewing is doing a limited run of pilsner cans based on the NBC 15 Crichton leprechaun story! #ThrowbackThursday : https://t.co/B527qyU1b6 pic.twitter.com/UcvZfWfwLD
— NBC 15 News (@mynbc15) February 13, 2020
Johnson was sent to Crichton by WPMI, a local TV station, to cover growing crowds in the Mobile suburb.
Crowds continued to grow exponentially with the arrival of the TV crew and the scene resembled a block party.
It emerged that somebody had spotted something in a tree and thought it to be a leprechaun and the whole thing snowballed from there.
The amateur sketch of the leprechaun, coupled with some hilarious interviews with people hoping to get a sight of the creature, made for TV gold and it achieved cult status in Mobile.
To this day, the Mobile Leprechaun draws visitors to Mobile and it is one of the main things that the town is famed for.
Check out the hilarious NBC 15 report here:
Read more: Facts about leprechauns and where the legends really came from
Are you going to try to snag a Mobile Leprechaun pilsner can from Parish Brewing Company? Share in the comments!
Comments