JKR

4. A digression about mascots.

Brands have long used mascots to present a “human” face to consumers, getting the characters to deliver the sense of soul that the products wish to have. Pears Soap pioneered the mascot, buying the copyright to Millais’ painting “Bubbles” and adding the soap bar to create a smash hit poster which hung in many a British house (my Grandma’s amongst them). While bringing scorn from the art establishment upon Millais, the print made brand and artist alike household names. Some mascots have stood the test of time, while many others have been demoted or killed off entirely.

Once removed, mascots rarely come back, which seems crazy when they can inspire such saliency and affection.

Beyond creating engagement, mascots can help make brands more iconic and thus legally protectable. jkr were briefed to make Penguin more distinctive in the wake of a legal case involving an own label pass off called Puffin. We were asked to drop the bird and do something interesting with the word marque. Instead we made the packaging all about a big blue penguin. Pictures speak louder than words, and the penguin had much more appeal than a piece of typography could offer.

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