Frank, Sidney Edward

▪ 2007

      American businessman (b. Oct. 2, 1919, Montville, Conn.—d. Jan. 10, 2006, San Diego, Calif.), devised clever marketing strategies for the American launches of the German herbal liqueur Jägermeister, which became a mainstay among college students, and Grey Goose vodka, which became the best-selling premium vodka in the U.S. After starting Sidney Frank Importing in 1972, he acquired American distribution rights to Jägermeister. In 1986 Frank began marketing the brand by having scantily clad Jägerettes sell shots of it in bars, and sales grew exponentially. Frank created the upmarket Grey Goose vodka in France in 1997 and sold that brand to Bacardi in 2004 for $2.3 billion, a record for a single liquor brand. In recent years Frank concentrated on marketing wines, Corazón de Agave tequila, and the energy drink Crunk. He donated more than $120 million to his alma mater, Brown University, Providence, R.I., and millions more to educational institutions affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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