Rainier: A Beer Odyssey

It’s hard to imagine now with the omnipresent onslaught of comedic TV ads, but there was a time when beer commercials weren’t funny. The documentary Rainier: A Beer Odyssey isn’t a chronicling of the iconic Seattle beer’s history, but rather a look at the unusual ad campaigns in the 1970s and ’80s that put the brand on the map. Don Draper-level pitchman Terry Heckler and his freewheeling team created amusing TV spots as simple as drawing the parallel between Rainier and the sound of a motorcycle passing by or as complex as pop culture parodies of Rambo and more. After premiering at last year’s Seattle International Film Festival, the entertaining doc about selling suds crosses the Cascades to screen at the Garland.

Rainier: A Beer Odyssey • Fri, April 18 at 7:30 pm • $10 • The Garland Theater • 924 W. Garland Ave. • garlandtheater.org