The Creepiest Corporate Mascots
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Photograph by CREDIT: coltermac via Flickr.
It’s been a rough week for the world’s most recognizable clown. A health-food-advocacy group is demanding that Ronald McDonald take responsibility for encouraging children to eat fattening foods and resign his post as McDonald’s mascot. But for every child Ronald has lured into a restaurant, might there be two more whom he frightened off? With his bright yellow jumpsuit and ghastly grin, Ronald cuts an unnerving figure. In this, he’s hardly alone: For some reason, many corporations have favored mascots less likely to appeal to children than to leave them terrorized and sobbing. Take a look through our gallery of corporate mascots who may look sweet from afar but up close are surprisingly and undeniably creepy.
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Photograph by CREDIT: Dan Dickinson via Flickr.
Snuggle Bear
How can you not be frightened by a bear who might pop up from behind the washing machine or fly in on a dryer sheet at any given moment? (Watch this ad—or this one—if you’re not convinced.) Over the years the fabric softener has not only used the little bear in their ads but also given him out as a gift with the product. Back in 2002, Snuggle's menacing nature was exposed when his eyes and nose popped off in kiddies' mouths—prompting the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a recall. Here, a pile of the Japanese snuggler monsters.
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Photography by CREDIT: elycefeliz via Flickr.
Big Boy
With only around 500 restaurants in the United States, Big Boy is no McDonald’s. Nonetheless, we suspect that Big Boy himself may be even more menacing than the allegedly obesity-promoting Ronald. Just look at the way he’s holding that burger.
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Photograph by Mr. Cortes’ viaCREDIT: Flickr.
Chuck E. Cheese
Chuck E. Cheese seems like a nice fellow as he serenades children with his band. But looking into his shiny plastic eyeballs has inspired many a child to let out a blood-curdling scream. Perhaps they see through to his dark side.
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Courtesy Quiznos.
Quiznos Spongemonkey
Unlike the other corporations on this list, it seems unlikely that Quiznos was going for cute with its mascot, the spongemonkey. A little rat flying around twitching and shrilly singing about sandwiches is overtly terrifying.
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Photograph by Thierry Zoccolan/AFP/Getty Images.
The Michelin Man
The Michelin Man—technically his name is Bibendum—has evolved over the years, kicking his cigar habit and slimming down. Though the company may think these changes have made him more appealing, he’s never really recovered from associations with his celebrity doppelganger, the Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters.
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Courtesy Pillsbury.com.
The Pillsbury Doughboy
A little boy-man made out of dough who enjoys being poked in the stomach with a finger? Terrifying, no matter how cute his little squeal.
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Courtesy Wienerschnitzel
Wienerschnitzel’s The Delicious One
Hot dogs should not wear sun hats or sip tea. They should also refrain from bending like Gumby and prancing around, as Wienerschnitzel’s The Delicious One is wont to do.
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Courtesy McDonald’s.
The Original Ronald McDonald
This was the original Ronald McDonald, who existed in a fantasy world called McDonaldland, full of imaginary friends. His nose and face seem designed to evoke thoughts of serial murder. Then again, back in those halcyon days before childhood obesity became an epidemic, he had a much better reputation.