From time to time, companies find their products not interesting enough to stand on their own merit. To remedy this problem, they invade the consumer conscience with images, characters or personalities that align well with their product. These attacks on the human psyche are known as mascots. Today we look at the varying level of success some mascots have known with an emphasis of those that failed to make us love the product they pitched.
The Successes
Ronald McDonald - Sigh, like it or not the afroed clown has done his job well. Ronald McDonald is an international icon and ambassador for the Golden Arches and is likely the world's most famous clown (my apologies to Bozo). One can not look at that happy clown and not immediately think of a McDonald's restaurant. For a time, Wal+Mart even offered photo ops with the world's most famous clown. His statue sat on a bench outside McDonald's restaurants in their stores. His presence did not go unnoticed. As I dined behind Ronald one evening, a proud mother was taking a photo of Ronald and her son. I poked my head over Ronald's shoulder and flashed a big grin of my own. The lady said with some frustration, "Oh" and reangled her shot to exclude my smiling mug. I still laugh when I think about it. 
Tony the Tiger -Just uttering the phrase, "They're grrrreat!" will immediately bring to mind one of the most successful cereal mascots of all time. Tony the Tiger rivals the Cheerio's Bee, The Lucky Charms Leprechaun and the Trix Rabbit for king of the cereal mascots. I think he should be king. After all, he wasn't trying to keep his Frosted Flakes from children nor were children trying to take them from him. He didn't have to pitch new kinds of sugar or new shapes of flakes to keep his product popular. He just told us time and time, and time..and time again, "They're grrrrreat." I always liked Frosted Flakes, but usually found Sugar Flakes or some grocery store brand equivalent in the cabinets at my house; right alongside Magic Stars, Fruity Crisps or Oat O's. 
The California Raisins - The California Raisins were huge! They easily dethroned the Fruit of the Loom characters as the greatest fruit associated mascot of all time. What began as a claymation commercial designed to increase public awareness of raisins ballooned into a multi-level commercial success. The California Raisins would find their way to the television and music industry. They had two TV Specials and a Saturday morning cartoon. On the music scene, the California Raisins had at least one album, that I owned. I had a cassette of the California Raisins that had "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (of course) and Lean On Me. There were others but those are the only two songs I recall. Even on the toy front there was success. For a time Hardee's offered California Raisin figures and I remember they quickly ran out as the figures were in such demand. I owned one California Raisin and it came from a yard sale. Today, the Raisins aren't seen much anymore. Perhaps they were victims of their own success as America came to appreciate and love raisins like never before. I can only assume this was the case as we no longer see commercials encouraging us eat more raisins. The Failures
The Tang Lips - Where Hardees saw great success with their California Raisin figures, I doubt they had people inquiring too much about The Tang Lips. If I recall, Hardees did not even serve Tang, so why they were pitching these toys I have no idea. If any company needed a good mascot, it was Tang. I knew/know of nobody who drinks this stuff. The few times I've had it, I haven't cared much for it. So it seems such a lack luster drink company would work harder to provide some better way of pitching their product. I have a vision in my mind of a commercial being made that showed an actual human drinking Tang. Perhaps the pinched eyes and curled nose that usually came with tasting Tang would have not fared well in advertising, so somebody suggested, let's just show their lips! Hence, the Tang Lips were born. 
Sprite Boy -I must admit, I don't know if Sprite Boy was a success for Coca Cola or not. Yes, you read that correctly, Sprite Boy. I had to do a little research on this character and according to the Coke website, "The "Sprite Boy" character, who appeared with Santa Claus and was used in Coca-Cola advertising in the 1940s and 50s, was also created by artist Haddon Sundblom. Though The Coca-Cola Company does have a drink called Sprite®, the Sprite Boy character was not named for the beverage. Sprite Boy's name came because he is a sprite -- an elf. Sprite Boy first appeared in ads in 1942, while the drink Sprite was not introduced until the 1960s." Perhaps Sprite Boy is a failure because he was failed to be used. In my research, it took a few years for Sprite to catch in the U.S. against the competitor 7-Up. At my first glance of Sprite Boy, I thought he was an old lady. He is the most geriatric boy I've ever seen. 
Spot - While we are on the subject of clear colas, we should give heed to 7-Up's mascot attempt. What fun it was to watch these red dots donned in sunglasses dance across the TV screen! [end sarcasm here]. 
The Noid - This guy also had his own Nintendo game, which I never played. Using the word "avoid" in your company's slogan just seems ironic to me, but Dominoes Pizza encouraged the public to "Avoid The Noid." It seems that The Noid was responsible for the delivery of cold pizzas by Dominoes competitors. However, when a company's principal advertising character is someone to be disdained and avoided, it just seems counter productive. I guess there was some success as I am certain most every reader of this blog over the age of 20 remembers the Noid. Maybe you even liked him. However, did he make you want to order a Dominoes pizza? To the company's credit, I don't recall any of the other major pizza franchises even attempting a mascot. I guess it was the case that their products stood on their own merit. I do remember some old guy pitching Big O's pizza, but I think he was local and I am certain nobody remembers him but me. He wasn't around long. 
The Reeses's Pieces Alien - This guy wasn't around long either. It seems the makers of the candy wanted to capitalize on the E.T. that came about by creating an alien of their own. If you recall, in E.T. Elliot leaves a path of Reese's Pieces for E.T. to follow. I guess Steven Spielberg would not allow his beloved character to be used to pitch the candy he was scripted to love so. Reese's attempted to remind lovers of the film that their candy was "Out of this World" by creating an E.T. ripoff just outside the limits of copyright. What America got was an obese blue alien with a face only a mother could love, because nobody else seemed to. 
The Annoying Energizer Man - Okay, I don't recall his name, only his annoying commercials. Before the immortal "Engergizer Bunny" was used to pitch long battery life via Energizer's products, they attempted to use this annoying blonde headed man who screamed through most of the commercial. "HEY! IT'S ME THE ENERGIZER MAN!" he would shout. He had either a Scottish or Australian accent. Perhaps this was an attempt to capitalize on the brief interest of Americans in Australian culture in the 1980s. However, our fascination with Crocodile Dundee and Pippa on "Facts of Life" would not last long. Neither would the Energizer Man. As we lost interest in that continent/country in the Southern Hemisphere, the Energizer man only became increasingly irritating. A few years later he would be erased from most of our minds forever as that pink bunny found its way across our TV screens with the now famous line, "Still going...." I wish it were with a fondness I bid him adieu, but he was irritating and much like the others we visited today, a poorly chosen mascot. I hope you have enjoyed this reflection on people and things that did not inspire us to buy anything. Please share your thoughts and memories on these mascots and any others that I may have missed.
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