Playmate Premium Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Sunshine's Infamous Playmate Beer Can

This 12-ounce straight steel tab top container dates to the late 1960s and represents one of the most memorable packaging designs of its era. The can features a striking pop-art motif, showcasing a close-up illustration of a woman's eye with stylized eyeshadow above the brand name and glossy parted lips positioned below. Along with the bold title lettering, the front panel carries the distinctive tagline, "with the zing of malt liquor," while the vertical side margin identifies the Sunshine Brewing Company of Reading, Pennsylvania.

Sunshine introduced the Playmate brand in the late 1960s to capture consumer interest in bold, modern imagery and to compete in the growing flavored and high-gravity malt beverage market. The brand was produced in both premium beer and malt liquor varieties. However, the product line had an exceptionally brief lifespan. Playboy Enterprises contested the use of the trademarked name, leading to legal challenges that forced Sunshine to halt distribution and remove the cans from retail channels, with remaining warehouse stock slated for destruction.

Sunshine Brewing Company operated out of a historic brewery plant in Reading with roots stretching back to 1859, when Peter Barbey established a brewing operation on the site. Surviving Prohibition through near-beer production, the business later operated as Barbey's Inc. before reorganizing as the Sunshine Brewing Company in 1951. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Sunshine fought hard against the pressures of national brewery consolidation by producing an array of regional brands and novelty labels. Despite these creative marketing efforts, intense industry competition led to the plant's permanent closure in 1970.

Today, the Playmate can holds a legendary reputation among breweriana enthusiasts. Its bold aesthetic, combined with its abrupt withdrawal from circulation due to copyright disputes, makes it a centerpiece for collectors focused on mid-century design, tab top history, and infamous discontinued brands.