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Paint me like one of your French SKU's
The world of illustrated mascots
Brent Vrdoljak
June 05, 2025
You can’t walk around Tokyo without spotting this little guy. Big orange ears. Giant anime eyes. Always smiling.
His name is Pipo-kun and he’s everywhere. Posters, pamphlets, life-size costumes roaming the streets.
 Image credit: Tokyo Police. | But he’s not selling cereal. Or toys. Or anything cute. Pipo-kun is the official mascot of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. Since 1987, this wide-eyed mouse-alien has been the public face of law enforcement. A character designed to soften the image of authority - to make the police feel friendly, safe, and approachable. A kind of absurd idea for most of the Western world, but wonderful nonetheless. |
And lately, we’ve been seeing more of them popping up in consumer-goods - not just in Japan, but across the world. From supermarket snacks to luxury skin serums, the mascot is back.
Let’s talk about why.
Today’s episode is all about characters like this - weird, wonderful and wired for memory. I’m calling it…
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So uh… what is a mascot?
There is no such thing as a dumb question. Except “what is a mascot?” - that’s a dumb question. Or at least it seemed dumb as I’ve been pondering this a lot lately. I think I’ve figured it out.
Not every cute doodle by a brand is a mascot.
A mascot is a recurring, character-based brand asset. It shows up again and again - across products, ads, social, even merch. It often has a name, a vibe, and a point of view. It represents the brand as a character.a
 Image credit: Yellow bird | The key point here is consistency. Yellow Bird hot sauce is a great example. The wide-eyed hot sauce bird brings chaotic energy to every element of their marketing mix. The bird features prominently on packaging and is so iconic to the brand, it’s literally part of the logo. |
These aren't just visual fluff. They're working assets - acting as memory cues, attention magnets, and tone-of-voice vehicles.
Contrast that with illustrations. An illustrated character might turn up here and there, perhaps among friends and other characters. But without that iconic consistency, it’s more like a vibe.
 Image credit: Graza | Take Graza for example. Yes, Graza has cute illustrated characters on its packaging. But these characters don’t act like a mascot.
In other words, it’s an illustrated vibe, not necessarily a brand asset. |
It can be beautiful. Textural. Atmospheric. Even character-led. But if the character never shows up again and doesn’t represent the brand, it’s not a mascot. It’s just decoration.
A true mascot is repeatable, recognisable, and active across multiple touchpoints.
Cool but why the hell does that actually matter?
Let’s kick it back to Pipo-kun for a minute. That little alien dude has been the same since 1987. He’s older than me FFS! Absolute consistency is the key here. Because if you want to squeeze all the juice out of the lemon, you need something people will actually remember. Which brings us to a few important points.
1. Mascots help to build memory structures
Brand growth depends on being noticed and remembered. Mascots help with both.
Ehrenberg-Bass research shows that brands grow by building memory structures - elements of brands that come to mind quickly in buying situations.
Used consistently, a mascot becomes a mental shortcut for the brand. It makes it easier to recognise the brand, making it easier to remember and easier to buy.
2. They can create emotional connection
Mascots humanise your brand. They give it tone, personality, and a point of view - without needing a founder story or manifesto.
 Image credit: M&M’s | Probably the most famous example here is M&m’s. For decades, Mars has personified its candy into a cast of distinct characters: Red is bossy. Yellow is clueless. Green is sultry (until she was de-sexified). Brown is smart and dry. Orange is perpetually anxious. These aren’t just cute quirks - they’re emotional hooks. |
This approach turns basic chocolate buttons into something bigger:
A brand world.
A reason to care.
And a device that builds and reinforce memories - on shelf, in ads, in hands.
3. They punch through on shelf
You’ve got a few seconds to get noticed. A big face helps.
Our brains are wired to spot faces faster than anything else. It’s why a weird little character can outperform even the most beautifully typeset pack.
Neuroscience calls it the “fusiform face area” - a specialised part of the brain that lights up when we see a face. It even works for cartoon characters.
Eye-tracking studies show that faces on packaging consistently draw the eye first and hold it longer, even when they’re not the focal point. In a cluttered retail environment, a face can act like a visual speed bump - slowing the shopper down just long enough to make an impression.
A mascot won’t save you
There are no silver bullets. But when done well, a mascot isn’t just decoration. It’s a shortcut to the brand. A face you remember when everything else blurs. And in a world of bland brands and functional claims, that might be your biggest advantage.
I gotta rethink my supergoods illustrations……
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