Mascots have been a successful
approach to brands since the 1950's when Leo Burnett created iconic characters
like The Marbolo Man and Tony the Tiger. Mascots,
including Ronald McDonald, have gone through troubled times in recent years.
Marketers have now turned to social media to jump-start a resurgence of brand
mascots through Facebook and Twitter.
"(Mascots are) the gift that
keeps on giving," said Carol Phillips, president of Brand Amplitude.
"They never get in trouble with the law. They don't up their fees. You can
use them for a long, long time."
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| Popular brand mascots get together, possibly celebrating social media. |
Still, mascots have seen their
troubled times. Ronald McDonald faced criticisms that he should be retired by
McDonald's due to child obesity. The issue was first brought up in 2010 by Corporate Accountability International,
the same company that rid the advertising world of Joe Camel in the 90's.
The Chicago Sun Times reported
on the retirement of The Burger King in August 2011. His royal highness was
seen popping up in people's windows and waking up next to them. This "creepy" approach did not increase sales
and the King was dethroned. This move looked to be a sign for the end of many
brand mascots. Luckily for some there was a saving grace, social media.
This resurgence of brand mascots can
best be explained by Wall Street Journal reporter Suzanne Vranica who explains that consumers don't want to talk to a logo, or pr person online. As consumers increasingly
move to social media they see advertising thrown in their faces. What they want is to have a conversation. The pairing of social media and mascots
accomplishes this task.
One recent social media campaign,
focused on in a recent article by brandchannel, has set the
stage for future uses of social media with mascots.
The stunt-double for Planters' Mr. Peanut, Peanut Butter Doug, doesn't have his
own page. He uses Mr. Peanut's page as his platform. This matches the lack of
credit he receives for doing Mr. Peanut's stunts in the video to the right. The
commercial is to introduce Planters Peanut Butter.
Mr. Peanut also shines on his
Facebook page. There are posts about promotions and product details, but there
are also posts that only a peanut mascot could say.
"I found a five-dollar bill on
the street today. Some might call that lucky, but when you're this low to the
ground it actually happens more often than you'd think."
Twitter has also become a viable
network for brand mascots to interact with consumers. One problem with Twitter has
been the creation of false accounts. Ad Age reported about the
situation in April 2011 but the situation remains relevant as it becomes
increasingly popular for brands to use mascots to communicate their social
messages.
Although there are many false
accounts on Twitter for brand mascots, some companies have verified their brand
mascots on Twitter, including:
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