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whatonearth ago

The "Mr. Boh" character from the National Bohemian beer ads is a totally mainstream part of Baltimore local culture and has been for decades. He even has his own twitter now: https://mobile.twitter.com/bohinbaltimore

And here's a beer commercial from the 50s that has Mr. Boh wearing a top hat and playing banjo while singing about Maryland history: https://youtu.be/zN_YRe0npX4

You can see that the marketing for National Bohemian has emphasized its Baltimore local roots for at least 60 years now, and Mr. Boh has gradually come to be a symbol of Baltimore kind of like cheesesteaks are a symbol of Philadelphia. People will get Mr. Boh tattoos to reflect that they are from Baltimore, for example.

The character he is giving a ring to on the billboard is another local advertising character, for Utz potato chips (made in Pennsylvania but near Baltimore, and only regionally available). Anyone from Baltimore understands that the point of the ad is not "here's a spiral haired man proposing to a little girl", it is "hey Baltimore, here are two beloved local advertising characters getting married to reflect that we (Smyth Jewelers) are also a local company". Here is a newspaper article about it: http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-consuming-smyth-seeks-permanent-home-natty-boh-utz-girl-billboard-20140410-story.html

I lived in Baltimore for a part of my childhood and always wondered why Mr. Boh is drawn with one eye. The usual answer I heard is that he is supposed to be winking. His hair and mustache are obviously supposed to be a sort of 1880s men's look reflective of when that beer brand was founded.