When Weird Marketing (Sort of) Works: Mr. Six

Sometimes brand mascots are so weird and out of left field that they work because of their sheer uniqueness. But on the other hand, they can sometimes be weird enough to backfire.

And, oddly enough, there is even a third category: those mascots that fall somewhere in the middle.

Mr. Six, the mascot for Six Flags, is one such mascot.

sixMr. Six was introduced to the public in 2004. He was a loveable, if not slightly awkward-looking senior citizen that had the apparent ability to make anyone who saw him joyful enough to start dancing and having a great time. He was always dressed in a suit with suspenders and a bright red bow tie.

Here’s the weirdest thing about Mr. Six. While he worked for quite a while, becoming popular is advertising and doing some good for the amusement park, his was a shtick that got tiring after a while.

The successes and failures of the Mr. Sic campaign can be summarized easily yet it still can’t help decide if the mascot was a success or a failure.

Successes

  • The commercials were certainly memorable.
  • The character danced to a popular song at the time (and also equally annoying, as the Mr. Six ads quickly became, too).

Failures

  • He was sort of creepy. The make-up had him looking almost too old.
  • There was mass confusion among the public why an amusement park would use an old (and potentially senile) man to lure younger people (namely kids) to Six Flags.

Love him or hate him, he was axed a few years after he was introduced as shareholders found him annoying and confusing. Yet, in another strange turn of the Mr. Six story, he was brought back a few years later. The reason given by the company was that the guests apparently loved him. It was a physical representation of their brand that people related to and recognized easily…even if they don’t really care for him.

Given this peculiar story, would you say that Mr. Six was a branding mistake or a branding success?

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