Appendix: A Preliminary Study of Online Mascots (1999) If the "monkey see, monkey do" philosophy was ever to be applied to graphical trend at large web sites, then the proliferation of online brand mascots would certainly be one of the first events to study. From the most famous retail chains to the smallest family stores, sites of all makes and sizes are employing brand mascots to assist them. As part of a survey conducted in November, 1999, I visited over 2500 sites linked from the Yahoo! search engine and chronicled 30 of the most interesting mascots I found. While a few of them will be analyzed further in the next section of this report, the 30 examples as part of this previous survey were chosen because they represent an wide cross section of all the noteworthy sites with a cartoon character acting as a mascot. The list is by no means complete, of course, and in the months that have past since these preliminary findings were identified, some of the characters might have changed their form. The analysis which accompanies these findings was preliminary and not rooted in the same discussion of Aristotelian elements of ethos on which this report will later concentrate. Instead, it was meant to raise some basic questions and concerns about the use of online brand mascots. The list is ordered by the genre of industry. "Asking for Advice" A search at Yahoo! indicated 20 categories and over 150 sites devoted to "ask an expert" advice. These sites, more than any other, rely on the perception of credibility to promote their content. I was therefore surprised to find that very few of these sites employ a character. There wasn't a single example of character use on sites in the specific categories of religion, astronomy, pediatrics, mathematics, biology, sexuality, nutrition, ecology, or engineering, among others. However, the trend was completely reversed for one of the "ask for advice" categories: social issues. In this pop culture category, there were several interesting uses: Ask Dear B, http://members.tripod.com/~DearB/ Not only does "Dear B" include a full biography and real-life picture of herself, but she also includes her face on the one dollar bill. The prominent use of this dollar bill might indicate that the webmaster is an expert on finances, but instead, as she states, her site is in "the same spirit as 'Dear Abby/Ann Landers,' that features down-to-earth solutions for everyday dilemmas." She continues by saying that the dollar bill is meant to represent good luck. Lost in all of the pictures of money is the lady's real name. Miss Abigail's Time Warp Advice, http://www.MissAbigail.com/ The most interesting aspect of this character is its habit of changing outfits. Upon visiting the site in November, the large cartoon of Abigail was wearing a modest pink dress. In December, her attire changed completely to include a green dress and Santa's hat. In all of her outfits, she's an extremely confident gal. Psychic Chicken Network, http://www.ruprecht.com/ Wherever you travel on this site, you are greeted by the cocky "Ruprecht Roosterdamus." The webmaster introduces himself as the persona of a blue (chicken) guru menace. Ruprecht has friends who can also assist people with their questions about life, including Madam Mozell, a purple cow. In all cases, the characterizations are confident and cool, with pastel colors to brighten the day. Sir Charles Grandiose, http://www.grandiose.com/ In a different approach, everything about this web site for the "lovelorn and senseless" is classically oriented. The pictures are sketches of characters from the artwork of previous centuries. Combined with the "Sir Charles" name, the site exhibits a linguistically complex array of elevated neoclassic attitude. Three Wishes from the Genie, http://www.lookmeupat.com/alladin2.htm In a much more simplistic level, where would a "grant your wishes" site be without an animated Genie to guide you on your way? This site is a great example of pure silliness, with really little in serious content. Nevertheless, to use animated genies and wizards to satisfy the desires of the web surfer is a unique approach. Dr. Pitman's Advice, http://www.sff.net/people/pitman/shrink/drpitman.htm This, yet another site dedicated to "advice for the lovelorn," features sketchy clip art of a person who we assume is Dr. Pitman. The note of interest for this site, however, is the one sentence in small print at the very bottom of the page: "Dr. Pitman is not a psychologist, psychiatrist, or licensed therapist. He is, however, considerably smarter than you are." One could speculate that visitors who actually entrust Dr. Pitman with their problems do so after only seeing the picture at the top, and not the text at the bottom. Breakup Girl, http://www.breakupgirl.com/ Wow! Don't mess with this girl! Who better to personify a bitter, hostile, and angry girl whose just been through a nasty break-up than this flying superhero with a cape? Entrancing in her busty red outfit, the breakup girl at this site is a superb example of cartoon character mastery. Not only does the site include the girl in almost every facet of the site, but, if you visit the parent directory URL (www.breakupgirl.com), you'll be swept away immediately by a massive picture of her busting out of your computer screen. The site introduces the mighty girl, and states on her bio page, "Now, remember, Breakup Girl is only a superhero, not a trained psychologist. If you have an urgent or highly serious concern, please consult a qualified civilian." In a brilliant move by the webmaster, a version of the site called "When the boss drops by: Read-At-Work Version" is available without breakup girl's valiant persona all over the page, but with the same content as the rest of the site. "Children's Sites: Exercise, Education, and Exploration" Another area of the web with an abundance of cartoon characters acting as site guides is the large genre of children's sites. Judging from the prominence and silliness of the characters, these are websites targeted at children, which is interesting considering the massive amount of advertising that also blesses these pages. All of them feature characterizations in animal form, unlike the "advice" sites mentioned previously. This might be appealing to the "stuffed animal" aspect of childrens' comfort zones. As an adult, I found some of the sites to be cute, while others are simply senseless (meaning I could not understand the mentality behind the site's creation). The sites provided below are a representation of both kinds: Dr. W.S. Universe, http://www.wsu.edu/DrUniverse/ In a very complex rendering, Dr. W.S. Universe is a flashlight-wielding cat that answers scientific questions submitted by kids. The "W.S." stands for Washing State University, which sponsors the cat and its endeavors. Following the site into its main contents page and secondary pages, the astute feline answers everything while wearing various technical outfits (most of which showing off the Cougars logo). The site provides a lengthy section to describe Dr. Universe and her attributes. The environment created is wondrous and friendly. Ask Wendell, http://www.yucky.com/wendell/ Wendell the worm doesn't have a doctoral degree, but he's got the pencil and pad of paper in his hat to show that he's ready to wiggle on off to find the answer for your kids' questions. As a part of the popular yucky.com web site, which appeals to children by advertising itself as "the yuckiest site on the web," it comes as no surprise that the creators of the site chose a worm to further the slimy nature of the site's overall personality. Rainbow Raccoons, http://www.rainbowraccoons.com/ Featuring four raccoons at the heart of the site, and various other secondary animals lurking in almost every image, I was at a complete loss to understand the purpose or goal of this site. As advertised, it promotes childrens' health information, but I could not, even after ten minutes, figure out where this information was to be found. Instead, I am introduced to several colorful raccoons, each with little purpose. When choosing animals to attract kids to your content, I would --from a webmasters' point of view-- consider this an extreme example. "Religion and Spirituality" Onto more Godly sites, I was disappointed to discover that only one of the 250+ sites explored in this category used a character. Not even a single "Ask a Priest" site descended upon my browser with a character. From the Catholics to the Muslims, there wasn't a single representation of a holy figure, which might be due to the religious webmasters' sometimes serious beliefs in conversion tactics. At the same time, however, if a site is meant to be a friend place for surfers to learn more about their religion and, in their best-case scenario, begin a conversion of the surfer, what better than to have a friendly character there to greet you with open arms. The only friendly representation I found at all was a parody site using Mel Brook's photo as a rabbi. The only cartoon character was found below: Ask Sister Rossetta, http://www.rossetta.com/ The angry nun has arrived. Ready the paddle! A comical site masking itself as one of the more serious variety, Sister Rossetta tackles everything from glow in the dark condoms to the dancing techniques of Jesus. Infuriating traditional Christians, as seen from the "flame" page included for all to enjoy, the site consistently uses a rather angry digital nun barking down from the heavens to knock some sense into her visitors. It is ironic to find that the only religious site to be easily found with a character is one that mocks the hundreds of "ask a priest/nun/clergy/etc" sites on the web. "The Major Search Engines" Among the most high profile sites are those that house the major search engines. With companies like Yahoo!, Lycos, and Ask Jeeves purchasing so much advertising on television, it's difficult to find a media consumer who isn't familiar with them. With two of the three companies utilizing cartoon characters prominently on their sites, it's by no means surprising that people can recognize them on first mention in any given conversation. Yahoo! only goes so far as to use a pair of shady sunglasses to identify what they believe to be cool sites, but the other two go much further: Ask Jeeves, http://www.askjeeves.com/ An ever-expanding company that incorporates a friendly user interface for a mega-search engine, Ask Jeeves is infamous for Jeeves the butler, who confidently answers any question (or so it is advertised) that a surfer might have. Even though the image of a butler has become somewhat obsolete in today's society (especially in America), the entire notion of the wise, old butler "always at your service" was popularized once again by the series of hit Batman movies from 1989 to 1997. Capitalizing perhaps on this growing identification, Jeeves appears everywhere on the site. His calm, omniscient look on the home page is transformed into an adventurous, but equally confident, persona for the newer "kids" section of the site. The webmasters provide a lengthy "about Jeeves" page describing, in their own words, the "strange but undeniably intriguing tuxedoed Samaritan." Lycos, http://www.lycos.com/ Who hasn't seen the television advertisements with the "go get it!" Lycos dog? As the ads always reveal, the dog always brings back even more than what you asked for, whether it be half a tree (instead of a stick) or a beautiful woman. This sleek, black dog is not featured as prominently on the site as it is in the television advertisements, but the graphical connection still exists. And, to maintain the spirit of the seasons, the small, attentive dog is decked out in a Santa's hat during the Christmas season. Given the fact that so many people have seen the dog in the commercials, I am surprised and curious about its relatively diminished role on the site. With so much time and money invested in it, I would think that the company could increase its size and expressiveness to further assist the surfers identify with the site. "On the Job Hunt" With the hundreds upon hundreds of job searching sites on the web, it was even more of a curiosity to find only one with a character to lead you to your next employer. There might be a few reasons for this; first, people desperate for a job might not want to waste time engaging with a cartoon, and second, surfers might find the sheer number of job opportunities listed to better determine a site's usefulness than the inclusion of a character guide. One notable exception is below: Job Monkey, http://www.jobmonkey.com/ The first question that comes to mind when visiting this site is, "why a monkey?" Personally, they remind me of lab experiments and the origins of mankind. But if you investigate further into the site, specifically the Safari section, a surfer will be greeted by a dozen various animals waiting to help your plight. Alligators, snakes, lions, elephants and the sorts are used in a very colorful, and yet peculiar fashion. When was the last time you entrusted a rhinoceros to find you a lifetime occupation? I was expecting at least a human character to lead me on my way --perhaps a tidy, upbeat career manager-- instead of dancing wildlife. "Web Development Tools" As the name of the category of sites would imply, characters with tools in hand are definitely in order. Most HTML developers couldn't care less (from the lengthy experience I've had with them) about cute cartoons on the information they need, but nevertheless, the cartoons exist at some sites. And they almost always have old fashioned tools: Webmonkey, http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey The monkeys are back, and this time, with a wrench in hand and a cool pair of shades. What is odd about this site is the lack of the Lycos dog, considering the fact that this is a Lycos owned and hosted site. Best Internet Garage, http://www.best.com/index1.shtml The Internet service provider Best Internet of Mountain View, California, offers a section where their customers can "tune-up" their web site. As a former employee of this ISP, I know that the tactic of creating a cartoon mechanic was employed to draw in the less experienced, first-time customers into the service. The fact that the web is always "under construction" furthered the customers' comfort level when viewing the friendly mechanic at work. "Established Corporations" Some of the most popular television cartoon personalities have broken into the virtual realm, and they're mostly the ones we'd expect... with a few notable exceptions, including the Pillsbury Dough Boy and, to an extent, the Energizer Bunny. The sites below extend the personalities of their previously established characters: Chevron, http://www.chevroncars.com/ The talking, colorful claymation vehicles make a grand entrance on the web. In fact, they have an entire web site to themselves. While playing a minimal role on the site of the corporate headquarters, Chevron urges you to visit their sister site devoted to the fictional vehicles. The most interesting part of the Chevron Cars site is "Wally, the Warning Squirrel," a character that pops up to warn both kids and parents when the following page on the web site contains commercial products (which is usually accompanied by a few pages of legal jargon). For a kid, I could only imagine the Wally the Warning Squirrel as a source for confusion, because what Chevron considers the promotion of "commercial products" on the following pages is actually a collection of the cars speaking in their personas as seen in the television commercials. For an adult, the characters and their warnings aren't particularly interesting. For kids, the surfing of ChevronLand could easily be hindered by that strange squirrel and its legalese. More than any other, this site is ripe for study. Kentucky Fried Chicken, http://www.kfc.com/ It's Colonel Harland Sanders as we never thought we would see him. With millions spent on the advertisements of a dancing, hip Colonel for the 1990s, the newest generation of one of America's most notable 20th Century faces has completely enveloped the KFC site. As more and more people forget the Colonel since his death in 1980, the memories of who exactly he is --beyond the animated, bucket-carrying dancer-- might fade. To combat this, the site devotes an entire section to informing its chicken lovers about the real Sanders and his KFC empire. Thus, the total animated exploitation of the man can be said to be averted. Dirt Devil Vacuums, http://www.dirtdevil.com/ A major curiosity in this study is the Dirt Devil Vacuum site. Even though it hasn't aggressively promoted its cartoon dogs in other media as powerfully as other companies, people might be more familiar with the devil's tail in its logo. With the domination of the color red, and the tail of the devil dangling in the center of the screen, the site combats the demonic image with several puppies on all of its pages. Puppy prints constitute the background image of the site, and the prints are used as bullets on secondary pages. My immediate reaction to the combination of images on the screen was to equate the the puppies with dirty floors, and thus, the need for a quality vacuum. So it is possible that the puppies are being used on two levels: to counteract the demonic nature of the company name and color, and to remind dog-owners that they need a serious vacuum cleaner. [for another curious corporate use of dogs and cute puppies, visit the RCA site at http://www.rca.com/] "Travel" Tour guides can often be the ultimate source of leisure time information for many web surfers. Travel agents and tour guides together can make or break a good trip, and so their presence on a web site can a comforting sight. Travel sites do indeed employ cartoon characters to sell their travel merchandise and packages, however the cartoons themselves are not what you might expect. In fact, no place is there to be found an energetic, young college student packed with all of the necessary touring equipment hustling to lead you on the web site. Nor is there a single professional travel agent sitting behind a desk, ready to help plan your perfect vacation. Instead, you get wizards, religious icons, tacky animals, and even medical doctors telling you how you should lead your next trip. Travel Vacation, http://www.travelaction.com/ A wizard? That's not exactly what one might expect when planning a trip, but for some vacations, a little bit of magic might be absolutely necessary. If a trip does indeed need a touch of magic to pull off without problems, then this site is the place to go. Otherwise, the wizard and his bolts of lightning might be an ominous sign. Travel Agent Specials, http://www.travelagentspecials.com/ Santa Clause? For some people, Santa might be the only way they'll get a vacation during the winter, and at this site, he peers over the world at the you, the web surfer. Though certainly not a year around character use, his appearance at the holidays is more than slightly suggestive on a travel site, especially as a reminder if you're looking for that special gift for a loved one. Rainbow Destinations, http://www.guesthouses.net/ Pink flamingos? It is very typical for websites run by and for homosexuals to utilize the rainbow colors of gay acceptance. Gay and lesbian travel sites are no different. This particular site has "rainbow" right in its name, but it also goes a step further and mixes in a huge pair of flamingos that steal the surfer's attention away from the rest of the content. I toiled for quite a while about the significance of this move, and I then remembered the word "kitsch." The gay community enjoys embracing anything that is kitsch (i.e. so tacky that it is actually cool), and pink flamingos are definitely one of those kitsch kinds of things. Though perhaps not adding to the credibility of the site, it might create a more comfortable atmosphere for those who view the page looking for gay-friendly hotels and inns. Doctor Travel, http://www.doctor-travel.com/ A medical doctor? Upon first visit, I was confused by the use of a medical doctor to promote knowledge about travel tips, airline delays, cancellations, jet lag, lost luggage and finding cheap fares. As a college student, I have always perceived doctors as those who take company-paid golf tours to Club-Med resorts. But after reading more about not only the cartoon, but the real-life man who closely resembles the cartoon, I realized that his medical outfit is meant for a humorous effect. The Travel Doctor is actually James Feldman, who performs both comical and serious lectures about his 30+ years of travel experience. So in this case, after learning more about the character and who it represents, I saw past the discrepancy between the medical and travel professions. "A Taste of the Rest" Among the dozens of other categories searched from the Yahoo! site, none other provided as consistent results. There are, however, several exceptions. Hidden in categories of 50 to 100 sites each are singular enigmas that have given life to cartoon characters. A cross-section of these pioneering sites follows: Dumb Crooks, http://www.dumbcrooks.com/ Even though a site may not intend to use their cartoon characters solely for credibility reasons, they can still be employed to further the atmosphere of a site. At this downright hilarious web site of dumb crook stories, a very light-hearted attitude is presented for the surfer. Immediately upon entering the site, we see a large image of a guilty (and I might add, rather dumb) looking criminal... and the characterization is so effective that the surfer can't help but crack a smile. Whether the crook stories are real or otherwise, the atmosphere of the site alone is what will likely be entertaining enough to hold the surfers' attention. Mister Cookie Face, http://www.cookieface.com/ Not to be missed, Mister Cookie Face is the ultimate in cartoon characters. Never before have I seen a character so large and overwhelming. The sheer size of the character on the home page is such that cannot be avoided. In fact, the cookie is so large --almost life-size on a screen with reasonable resolution-- that it might give the hungry surfer a growling stomach immediately. It entices the surfer to reach into the screen and take a bite out of him. If the surfer can resist, though, the rest of the site provides plenty of other opportunities to get to know everyone's favorite cookie man. The mission statement page goes so far as to insert the fictional character into a real-life photograph of the women who produce the ice cream sandwiches. Mister Economy, http://216.85.209.210/ame/ "With a touch of whimsy," as the site states, Mister Economy answers finance questions from his viewers... supposedly. The parent site, AmosWeb, is a sort of economic parody site, with silly economic news, polls, and opinions. Mister Economy thrives on the fact that he answers strange viewer questions while remaining strictly anonymous. In these regards, he deviates from all of the other characters studied so far, and yet he plays an equally important role on the site. This dilemma presents a question: how does the perception of a site change when the main character around which the entire site is built is anonymous? On one page, Mister Economy's mother remarks, "I don't know where I went wrong..." Mister Lucky, http://www.mrlucky.com/ As lucky as a bartender can be, Mister Lucky is indeed a bartender. In this culture e-zine about cocktails and vintage jazz music, Mister Lucky stands atop the page doing... something. The curiosity surrounding Mister Lucky results from some questions raised by the activity he is performing in the animated GIF file. Is he shaking up a large cocktail or playing a mambo drum? Depending on your screen's resolution the answer might be different. In the end it doesn't matter, because the site is devoted to both activities! Doctor Furniture, http://www.Doctor-Furniture.com/furniture/ Along the same lines as "Doctor Travel," I had suspicions about a medical doctor selling me on ideas that have nothing to do with medicine. Unlike Doctor Travel, though, which was a deeply established comical persona ultimately relating to the topic, the same cannot be said about Doctor Furniture. When he says "Doctor Furniture is here to make those ailments disappear," I presume he's referring to the furniture for which he makes house calls. Either way, the analogy simply doesn't hold much value beyond the uninspiring clip art. Doctor Dog, http://www.doctordog.com/ The most interesting (or alarming, depending on your thoughts about gender equality online) aspect of this veterinarian site are the two characters present in the center of the main page. With stereotypes in mind, I suppose it should be of little surprise that Doctor Dog is a male canine and Nurse Kitty is a female feline. How would this page have differed if the gender of the two characters had been reversed? Regardless of this blatant gender issue, the pet owner's feelings are often those of compassion and the idea of personifying the doctor and nurse as animals themselves puts the business in a lovingly unique perspective. The Watch Doctor, http://www.watchdr.com/ Occasionally, both the absurd and the downright creepy can be found in the character chosen to represent a site. Such is the case with The Watch Doctor, who appears to be a strange combination of dark superhero and crazed maniac. The business which owns the site offers to fix the watches you send them in the mail (the process by which you can track the progress on the repair). But who would send their watch to a site that uses such a demoniac figure as its representation? With sharp black hair, purple skin, and a unsettling grin on his painted face, the Watch Doctor seems like he needs to seek mental help. Notice the watch with the Watch Doctor's face that you can purchase at the bottom of the page. The ChickClick Network, http://www.chickclick.com/whoweare/ Finally, some attention must be paid to the womens' counterculture movement online. The ChickClick Network and its two-dozen sister sites offer rebellious chick, gurl, and grrl essays, opinions and advice. The most common aspect of all of these "chick" sites are the striking female characterizations found on most of them. Many of the female characters are powerful, menacing, spirited, and trashy, exhibiting an attitude of independence and liberation. The most interesting aspect of these counterculture sites is the fact that over fifty percent of the sites I found for women include a character, and yet absolutely none of the men's equivalents did the same. Instead, the "Men's Issues" sites are constructed with a much more formal and traditional brown and gray approach of design... with no characters. "Other General Observations" Before concluding the results of the 2500 site examination, there are a few extra important notes to consider. First, I excluded those pages devoted to printed and virtual comic strips, simply because they are required by nature to include cartoon characters. Also, there were many categories in Yahoo! (the vast majority, I must add) which did not include a single listing of a site that features a cartoon character. This absence alone says much about some industries, but remains a mystery in those other genres of sites that could really benefit from the use of a character. For instance, the types of sites that promote one-on-one care or assistance were completely lacking. In the subcategories of "Health," there wasn't a single use of a character on sites related to: Chiropractors, Health Clubs, Personal Trainers, or Long Term Nursing. These sites, along with the great majority of general medical sites, prefer to use photography with real people. This might not be surprising in the straight medical field, because their brochures and informational print publications have always employed the use of photography, but for health clubs and personal trainers, I was startled to find a lack of muscle-bound, tanned and toned characters to inspire the surfer to get into shape. Characters are also absent from the sites in the "Real Estate" (General and Agencies), "Law" (Lawyer Locators, Expert Witnesses, and Forensics), and "Antiques" (Dealers, Locators, and Teddy Bears) categories. These were genres of sites that I browsed specifically because they all require a certain amount of credibility to operate successfully. Also included with these characterless sites are all twenty-one of the world's major airlines. In contrast to the other travel-related sites (which include dozens of characters, a few of which mentioned previously), one can only speculate about the impact that the ValueJet disaster had on the rest of the airlines. If you recall, ValueJet's logo was a happy, bubbly airplane with an oversized smile, and even though the company and its web site have long since been dissolved, the ValueJet site featured the smiling plane prominently. After the ValueJet accident, and consequent failure of the company due to a horrid public image, not a single other airline has come even close to creating a "happy, bubbly airplane" as a character for its site. Back to the Report Overview Site created 11/27/99, last updated 5/14/00. All textual content published under the supervision of the Department of Speech Communication at The University of Washington, Seattle, and hosted by Filmtracks Publications of Missoula, Montana. All artwork is protected by the Copyright © 2000, of the site(s) it represents. Its appearance on this report is for informational, non-profit use, and may not be redistributed without their expressed written consent. Direct all questions or comments about these pages to Christian Clemmensen.