The Big Cheese:
Cheesehead inventor
profits from insults
by Michelle Wexler
 |
| At the Foamation Inc. factory, Ralph Bruno
shows off a Cheesehead. Photo by Michelle Wexler |
It’s the start
of the 1987 baseball season and Ralph Bruno is throwing back beers with
his friends in the bleachers at Milwaukee’s County Stadium, the
precursor to Miller Park. His beloved Brewers are struggling at bat, giving
Chicago White Sox fans license for taunting. “Cheesehead, cheesehead”
they chant at 26-year-old Bruno and his friends. Bruno is unaffected by
the endless chanting as he begins to ponder, “What’s so bad
about being a Cheesehead anyway?”
Bruno is so taken by this question that as soon as he gets home he goes
to work. Using foam from his mother’s couch, which he is in the
midst of reupholstering, he creates a makeshift Cheesehead by cutting
the foam into a wedge, burning holes in it and spray-painting it yellow.
The original Cheesehead was intended to have the look of cheddar but had
holes that resembled a piece of Swiss cheese.
Proud of his creation, Bruno appeared at the following game sporting his
novel hat. His friends initially refused to sit anywhere near him. “I
don’t really remember much that went on during the game because
all I could think about was my hat,” Bruno says. “Girls were
so amazed by it and were asking to try it on. That’s when my friends
decided to come back and sit by me. A light bulb immediately went off
in my head that this could potentially be sold for profit.” Today,
the Cheesehead is an identifiable symbol for Wisconsin and its people.
Out of a single, quirky creation emerged a prosperous business that shows
no signs of slowing down.
Foaming the idea
After the debut of the first Cheesehead, Bruno began background research
on foam and got together with Plastomeric, now part of PolyOne Corporation,
an international polymer service company. By providing technical information,
Plastomeric helped him get his small novelty business off the ground.
Bruno built the Cheesehead molds on his own, a skill he acquired from
his previous job in pattern making. He then went door-to-door at gift
shops, cheese shops and sports memorabilia stores trying to sell his product.
At first, stores owners were hesitant to stock the Cheesehead because
it was a novelty item, but many eventually agreed to sell it on consignment.
Bruno got paid as each sold.
Cheeseheads slowly began to sell off the shelves. Production intensified
and the small business emerged into a profitable company, later named
Foamation Inc. However, it wasn’t until the Green Bay Packers made
the playoffs in 1994 that the Cheesehead truly became the talk of the
town. Packers fans everywhere were wearing Cheeseheads to support their
team . “Midwesterners, especially sports fans, are hearty and outgoing
and aren’t afraid of a little taunting,” Bruno says. “We
aren’t afraid to be silly and that’s why the hats are especially
successful throughout the Midwest. The whole success of the Cheesehead
is directly related to the fan that wears it. The person beneath the hat
says what it’s all about.”
Although the Cheesehead has been well received throughout the Midwest,
people elsewhere are not as receptive. Terrance Savage, New York Giants
football fan says, “I love my football team as much as the next
guy but I have to draw the line somewhere. People look downright silly
in those Cheeseheads."
“Nonetheless,” Savage adds, “I do give them a lot of
credit. They must really have a lot of pride for their team and their
state to wear those out in public and risk being seen on national television.
In the end it all comes down to the character of the person. If you want
to make a statement and you don’t mind looking silly doing so, then
the Cheesehead is the product for you.”
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| Ralph Bruno, the Cheesehead creator, stands
outside the Foamation Inc. Cheesehead Outlet Store. Foamation
sells a variety of spin-offs, including the Cheesehead Ave. road sign.
Photo by Michelle Wexler |
Breaking
the mold
Bruno
runs Foamation Inc. in quite a unique fashion.
“There is no pecking order at Foamation Inc. The job descriptions
mesh together and overlay one another,” Bruno says. This dissimilar
organization is in part due to Bruno’s outlook on what makes a company
tick: “Our philosophy is that everyone is cross-trained. Without
job titles, people don’t worry as much about the attitudes of their
coworkers. It creates a more peaceful environment which makes the company
more productive on the whole.”
The great success of Foamation Inc. can be attributed to the way its people
work together. All employees are equally important and they depend on
one another for things to run efficiently. Denise Kaminski, longtime Foamation
Inc. employee, concurs with Bruno’s position as to how the company
works. “Because we are such a small company” Kaminski says,
“it makes things run more smoothly when we are cross-trained in
just about every element that helps to make Foamation Inc. a success.”
Bruno is also actively involved in production, making the molds on an
“as needed” basis, pouring the foam and preparing the products
for shipment. Furthermore, Bruno is the brain behind Foamation Inc.’s
creative spin-offs.
Spreading the cheese
Bruno has made Foamation Inc. into a company with products that extend
far beyond the original Cheesehead wedge. Almost all of his creative thoughts
become tangible products. Cheesehead sombreros, firefighter helmets, crowns,
coasters, earrings and can holders are among the various products Foamation
Inc. distributes worldwide.
Products like firefighter helmets and Cheeseheads adorned in the Stars
and Stripes have been selling particularly well, especially with the rise
in patriotism following Sept. 11. Cornheads have also become popular and
can be found at college football games in Nebraska as fans cheer on the
Cornhuskers. Increased recognition of these spin-off products has led
to increased profits for Foamation Inc. According to Bruno, “Spin-offs
have given us some stability for continuing our company’s success
and long-term existence.”
Defining a group
For most, the Cheesehead is more than just a hat that Wisconsinites or
Wisconsin sports enthusiasts wear. Burt Hochstein, Packers fan and proud
owner of a Cheesehead says, “The Cheesehead is a hat that unites.
Somehow, I feel like I know what people are all about when they are wearing
one. It has the power to bring people together and form a closeness that
can’t really be explained.”
Starting with the original and expanding into creative spin-offs, Foamation
Inc.’s Cheesehead has grown in popularity to become one of the defining
characteristics of the state of Wisconsin and its people. Whether people
are wearing cheese on their heads in Wisconsin, or beyond its borders,
the Cheesehead is definitely being noticed. Ralph Bruno, a die-hard sports
fan and inventive businessman turned what seemed to be an insult into
one of the most recognizable novelty items in recent years.
