Odd Advertising Mascots
This mascot is a giant, fuzzy purple creature who once represented a fast‑food chain’s milkshakes, even though his original name suggested he stole them instead of selling them.
Who is Grimace?
1972, This city’s Summer Olympics are remembered for both groundbreaking architecture like the sweeping Olympic Park and a tragic hostage crisis that reshaped global security.
What is Munich, GM? (or Munchen)
This invention is a system of reading and writing for the visually impaired, created by a French educator who lost his sight as a child and developed the tactile code at age 15.
What is Braille? (Louis Braille)
This anime’s title refers to a castle, though the story focuses less on the castle itself and more on a young woman whose curse forces her to confront her own sense of worth.
What is Howl's Moving Castle?
A term for something more important than anything else. And an over century-old studio.
What is Paramount?
This former pizza mascot's catchphrase wasn’t spoken but implied: you were supposed to “avoid” him back in the day, since he represented cold, late, or ruined pizza.
Who is The Noid?
2014, This city hosted the Winter Olympics, the most expensive Games ever held, transforming a subtropical resort town into a sprawling complex of winter‑sports venues and infrastructure. Only matched by a state-sponsored doping scandal.
What is Sochi, RU?
This invention is a system of alternating‑current power distribution, named after the Serbian‑American engineer whose work made long‑distance electricity transmission possible.
What is a Tesla coil? (Nikola Tesla)
This anime’s title is a phrase meaning “the day we first met,” though the story is told from the perspective of a boy who can’t remember that meeting at all.
What is Your Name? (Kimi no Na Wa)
It’s a vast body of saltwater that covers most of Earth, and a word used metaphorically to describe a calm, unbothered, or easygoing attitude.
What is Cool?
This mascot is a muscular drink pitcher who bursts through walls, and causing thousands of dollars in property damage while cheerfully shouting his catchphrase.
Who is the Kool Aid Man?
2002, This city’s Winter Olympics were overshadowed early by a bribery scandal but ultimately remembered for strong athletic performances and a renewed focus on security after global events the previous year.
What is Salt Lake City, US?
This invention is a unit of force named after the English scientist whose laws of motion and gravity reshaped physics.
What is a Newton? (Isaac Newton)
This title is a reference to a 19th‑century philosophical treatise about the nature of truth, which relates to a series where the protagonist must navigate a world built on fabricated memories.
What is Ghost In The Shell?
It's a medical tool that's used when you take your shot, and a slender metal tool used to sew fabric together or guide thread through cloth.
What is a Needle?
This mascot is a classy giant anthropomorphic peanut, raising the question of whether he is eating his own species. His "death" sparked controversy.
Who is Mr. Peanut?
1988, This city’s Winter Olympics were the first to feature Jamaican bobsledders, whose underdog story became a global sensation. The Games also helped transform the host city into a major winter‑sports hub.
What is Calgary, CA?
This invention is a unit of electrical power, named after the Scottish engineer whose improvements to the steam engine helped drive the Industrial Revolution.
What is a Watt? (James Watt)
This anime’s title is a term from astronomy describing the point where an orbiting body is closest to its star, fitting for a story about two people whose lives repeatedly intersect at dangerous emotional distances.
What is Your Lie In April?
It’s a small freshwater fish often served grilled or pan‑fried, and a blue‑green color named after a duck with the same hue around its eyes.
What is a Teal?
Mac Tonight, McDonalds' short-lived moon‑headed man in a tuxedo who croons jazz standards uses the likeness of this 50s-60s singer, so much so that the only thing he didn't have, was permission from his estate to use it.
Who is Bobby Darin?
1968, This French city’s Winter Olympics were the first to be broadcast in color and showcased a futuristic new ski‑jump tower overlooking the host region’s alpine valley.
What is Grenoble, FR?
This invention is a type of early electric telegraph, named after the American painter‑turned‑inventor who developed a code of dots and dashes to transmit messages.
What is the Morse code? (Samuel Morse)
This anime’s title is a poetic phrase meaning “the place where the wind sleeps,” though a Ghibli story that follows a girl whose emotions can literally reshape the world around her.
What is The Wind Rises?
Two of these is used for the logo of a highly recognized fast-food chain, and it's used as a decorative architectural feature found above doors or windows.
What is an Arch?