(This week, PR News editors Phil Hall and Aaron Jenkins look for a kernel of sensibility in an unlikely mascot.)
PHIL: Don't look now, but there is a giant smiling corn cob in bib overalls running around North America. It's Corn Cob Bob, the mascot of the Canadian Renewable
Fuels Association. This mascot came about because ethanol, the most popular renewable fuel du jour, can be made from corn. But, honestly, does this unlikely Child of the
Corn represent the right PR strategy for ethanol promotion?
AARON: Obviously, anthropomorphizing produce for PR strategies can inspire giggles, and doing so to promote alternative fuel is (dare I say) corny. But, by nature,
mascots are genial creatures, so for the Canadian fuel group to leverage CCB as the face - rather, ear - of its environmentally friendly cause sends the message to consumers that
renewable fuel is practical and even fun to use. There's even a relatable sense of mischief about Corn on the Bob, as if he'll amusingly distract you from your automobile only to
siphon its gasoline and replace it with ethanol. But on the flipside, should a weighty issue like alternative energy be levitated by humanized corn cob? It's not like we're
seeing the San Diego Chicken as the mascot for protective measures against the avian bird flu.
PHIL: Outlandish mascots run the risk of being parodied, usually in good nature but always at the expense of the sponsoring brand. For example, the giant wall-
crashing Kool-Aid Man was depicted as an emotionally unstable wreck on "The Family Guy" in an episode when the tubby Peter crashed twice through the supporting wall
of the Kool-Aid Man's home. Corn Cob Bob himself has been the subject of a zany faux-blog and a Net cartoon depicting him in a forbidden romance with First Lady Laura Bush. To
borrow a line from one of our columns, is this Good PR or Bad PR?
AARON: There's interchangeability between Good PR and Bad PR, and Corn Cob Bob is shucking both sides. Although parodied romances with the First Lady might be
perceived as less-than-favorable publicity, it's still publicity, and it will pique people's interest to look for a kernel of truth behind Corn Cob Bob, which will ultimately lead
them to Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. So, there is a Good PR bent to the mascot. And as long as incendiary blogs don't pop up of an alleged tryst between Corn Cob and
the Kool-Aid Man, the Canadian fuel group has a good shot of turning people on to its eco-friendly form of transportation.
PHIL: But if you don't stop those bad puns, you're going to be drinking the Kool-Aid!