• by Les Luchter , March 2, 2022

Apparently, Texas is big enough to have its own holidays, so let’s take a trip to that state today to celebrate with two breweries: venerable Lone Star and newcomer Siren Rock.

Pabst-owned, San Antonio-based Lone Star Brewing marked Texas Independence Day on March 2, with an armadillo-themed tie-in. And Dallas area brewer Siren Rock celebrates National Diva Awareness Week with themed parties and a strategically placed billboard.

Texas Independence Day, an unofficial state holiday, commemorates the birth of the short-lived (10 years) Republic of Texas in 1836.

Lone Star, whose own history goes back to 1884, is celebrating by returning to its armadillo mascot of the 1970s with a limited-edition clothing collaboration and an out-of-home San Antonio mural by local artist Matt Tumlinson.

Lone Star’s armadillo connection in the 1970s focused on nearby Austin and came about through branded posters created by local artist Jim Franklin. The beer also sponsored the first eight seasons (1976-1983) of PBS series “Austin City Limits”

The clothing, produced with Fort Worth retailer Morgan Mecantile, consists of a T-shirt, hat and bandana. The mural stems from a partnership with the nonprofit San Antonio Street Art Initiative.

“The goal here was to celebrate Texas with a fun nod to our brand's heritage…Our friendly mascot is popping up in multiple forms for y'alls enjoyment," said Lone Star senior brand manager Daniel Crawford.

National Diva Awareness Week and National Diva Day (March 5) are concoctions of Siren Rock Brewing, which opened its doors in July with a flagship American blonde ale called The Prima Diva.

The adoration of divas, like the Republic of Texas, dates back to the 19^th Century, according to a tongue-in-cheek Siren Rock press release. To hear Siren Rock tell it, this adoration has diminished in recent times due to sirens’ “reputation of being difficult, temperamental, and demanding,” necessitating the need to “promote these brazenly bold, irresistible characters and enable them to shine like the divine beings they truly are.”

National Diva Awareness Week, which includes a series of on-premise parties throughout the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area including a bash at Siren Brewing’s own taproom on National Diva Day, is highlighted by a billboard done in-house and placed on I-30 near downtown. The message: “There's a New Blonde in Dallas.”

The parties will feature Diva giveaways and Diva-branded glassware.

“We hope to bring out the inner diva inside everyone, male and female, so they can let that diva shine,” Eva Cannon, co-founder and vice president marketing of Siren Rock, as well as a “self-appointed diva,” told Marketing Daily.

Not only The Prima Diva, but “all of our beers are created in the image of a different personality or character… so that every consumer can find their own beer character to relate to,” Cannon said.

Other Siren Rock brands include The Fiery Rebel (red rye ale), The Magnetic Muse (chocolate milk stout), The Fearless Contender (hazy IPA), The Noble Crusader (coastal IPA) and The Loyal Fool (blackberry cobbler sour).