Canadian Names and Trade-Marks: Seagram

Although a Seagram-named public company no longer exists, the Seagram trade-mark continues to carry its long history as a name for beverages, and particularly distilled alcoholic beverages. This story began in 1864, when Joseph Emm Seagram began employment at a flour mill that owned a distillery on the Grand River in Waterloo, Ontario. In 1869, Seagram bought out the share of one of the three partners of the mill, then bought out the shares of the other partners in 1873 and 1883. After he became sole owner of the operation, Seagram renamed the company Joseph Seagram Flour Mill and Distillery Company. To celebrate his acquisition of the distillery, he created a whisky which he named Seagram's 83. Later, in 1911, the company was incorporated as Joseph E Seagram and Sons Limited and, shortly thereafter, Seagram’s VO whisky was introduced. Both Seagram's 83 and Seagram's VO became popular brands of whisky during Seagram's lifetime and are still found on liquor store shelves in Canada, as well as around the world. After Seagram's death in 1919, the company was sold in 1928 to the Distillers Corporation Ltd, which was directed by the Bronfman family, led by Samuel Bronfman. The National Prohibition was in effect in the United States in this period and, though never convicted, members of the Bronfman family were charged with bootlegging in the early 1930s. Despite its actual origins, the Seagram company name has been most closely associated with the Bronfman family. In the period immediately after Prohibition, whisky, being associated with bootlegging, was not seen as a high-class product. Samuel Bronfman and his brothers sought to change the image of whisky, to elevate it to be a beverage for the sophisticated and successful man. Further, in addition to the marketing of new brands (such as Crown Royal, created to commemorate the Canadian visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939) or the improvement of old ones that it acquired, the Seagram company began selling whisky mainly in bottles rather than in barrel consignments, in order to ensure the quality of the product. From the 1950s, the Seagram company began expanding into other beverages and new markets and experimenting in other industries, including Alberta oil and entertainment, with mixed success. The liquor industry fluctuated as well, and in midst of a decline in sales of liquor, the Seagram plant in Waterloo, Ontario closed in 1992. In 2000, the Seagram company, which then had significant holdings in entertainment such as the Universal group of companies, was merged with the French entertainment and media conglomerate Vivendi to form Vivendi Universal Entertainment, and Seagram as a public, corporate name ceased to exist in 2001. However, around the time of the merger, Vivendi sold the Seagram beverage arms to Pernod Ricard and Diageo, which continue to sell the alcoholic products created or acquired by the Seagram company throughout its history. Pernod Ricard and Diageo have licensed to Coca-Cola the Seagram trade-mark for use in connection with Seagram’s non-alcoholic product lines, which were acquired by Coca-Cola in 2002. References for further reading: the entry on "Seagram Company Limited." in The Canadian Encyclopedia, and "Seagram." Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: an International Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Summary by: Cheryl Cheung