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A&W Restaurants created a new mascot in 1974.
The marketing team sketched early versions of Rooty the bear, testing the character by printing it on children's meal bags.
The drawings showed a brown bear wearing an orange sweater, clutching a frosty mug of root beer.
A&W introduced Rooty the Bear in 1974 to connect with children and families.
They created him during a time when animated bears dominated children's entertainment.
Disney's Baloo danced through "The Jungle Book," Winnie-the-Pooh shared honey with friends, and Yogi Bear outsmarted park rangers on TV screens across America.
When Rooty first appeared, he wore a brown suit and carried a frosted mug of root beer.
His wide smile and raised eyebrows invited customers to join him at chrome-topped tables in A&W diners.
During restaurant visits, he high-fived children, posed for photos, and demonstrated how to create the perfect root beer float—tilting the mug at 45 degrees as vanilla ice cream met carbonated root beer.
Rooty's first commercial was shot in Pincher Creek, Alberta in 1985.
They set up their cameras in the town's central park, with its red brick storefronts and snow-capped Rocky Mountains filling the background.
Katherine Schmidt, a principal dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, wore the 7-foot foam costume.
Her dance training showed in how she made Rooty move.
There were many scenes depicting Rooty waving to children or hopping over park benches.
In 1976, A&W expanded their Rooty Bear merchandise line.
The company produced Rooty-themed balloons, drinking straws, and toys, adding playful "bear" prefixes to each product name.
These items sold in A&W restaurants across the United States.
In 2013, A&W uploaded a YouTube series called "The Bear is Back," starring Rooty.
The series filmed Rooty walking through A&W's actual headquarters, meeting employees, and participating in staged workplace scenarios.
This series depicted him sitting in budget meetings and attempting to use the office printer.
Dr Pepper, A&W's parent company, approved this departure from standard mascot marketing.
A&W's mascot Rooty faced two notable public incidents.
In 2013, LinkedIn deleted his professional profile, citing their policy against fictional characters maintaining accounts..
Ten years later, A&W posted on Twitter addressing a different mascot controversy.
The company shared an image of Rooty wearing blue jeans, responding to public comments about his usual pants-free appearance.
The tweet directly referenced similar debates happening around M&M's mascot redesigns, with A&W stating: "Notice anything different about Rooty? He's wearing pants."
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