A Sad Day For Dog Parents As Famous Pup Passes Away From An Aggressive Cancer

Sam, a golden retriever who portrayed the famous Duke in Bush’s Baked Beans commercials, passed away to cancer on Thursday.

Bush’s Baked Beans’ famous series of adorable, heartwarming, and amusing advertisements, centered around Jay Bush and his dog Duketo the golden retriever. From the moment the first video, which showed Jay whispering his secret recipe for the beans to his pup, aired, the world fell in love.

But Jay’s actual dog was not comfortable with being on screen, and this led to dog actors being hired to play the part. Many have stepped into the paws of the renowned, wise-cracking character of Duke, and Sam was one of them. He played his role as the “spokesdog” of Bush’s Baked Beans perfectly, and commercials featuring Duke even helped the company gain 80% in market shares.

The company released a statement in memory of Sam after hearing about his passing. Although he had not worked with them for years, they expressed being saddened by the dog’s passing and spoke of their gratefulness to have a dog like Sam taking on this important and central role to their brand.

Sam’s human Mom, Susan, who lived with the pup in Apopka, Florida, had to make the difficult decision to put him down when his cancer became too aggressive. Sam is remembered as one of the most iconic brand mascots in the world, and to friends and family, is known for being a special and loving pup to those he met.

Feature Image Source: David Odom