★英語資源頻道為大家整理的雙語新聞閱讀：盤點十大最驚悚公司吉祥物，供大家參考。更多閱讀請查看本站英語資源頻道。
McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500) new mascot, Happy, has been called "terrifying." And so it is, at least to some observers, what with its oversized, human-looking teeth; its crazed, bulging eyes; and its freakishly attenuated arms. But it's disturbing on another level, too: it was clearly the work of a focus-group-driven corporate bureaucracy trying to satisfy a lot of internal constituencies, as opposed being the original work of a creative team.
麥當勞(McDonald)的新版吉祥物Happy一直被戲稱為“太嚇人”，至少在一些觀察家看來的確如此：擬人的大牙齒;瘋狂凸出的大眼睛;還有纖細得有些怪異的胳膊。而這個吉祥物的另一面也令人擔憂：這很明顯是焦點小組驅(qū)動的公司官僚機構為了滿足內(nèi)部支持者們的產(chǎn)物，而不是來自一支創(chuàng)意團隊的原創(chuàng)作品。
麥當勞(McDonald)的新版吉祥物Happy
Obviously inspired in part by Spongebob Squarepants, it's easy to imagine that Happy was tested and retested, subjected to the scrutiny of a battery of consultants, and tweaked and retweaked until nobody was offended. That was until it was unleashed on the public -- at which point nearly everybody was offended. But as horrifying as Happy might be, he's got lots of company. See who else makes consumers squirm.
吉祥物Happy明顯受到海綿寶寶的啟發(fā)，不難想象，它肯定經(jīng)過了一遍又一遍地測試，接受了一系列顧問的嚴格審查，并且不斷調(diào)整，直到?jīng)]有人感到被冒犯。但這只是在它未公開亮相之前。Happy公布以后，幾乎所有人都感覺不舒服。但令人恐懼的Happy并不不是一個人人。讓我們來看看還有哪些令消費者不寒而栗的吉祥物吧。
The Jolly Green Giant
快樂的綠巨人
The Jolly Green Giant was such a popular character that the company he represented, the Minnesota Valley Canning Co., took his name in 1950. But in his earliest iterations in the '20s and '30s, the Green Giant didn't always seem so jolly. In fact, it was the future ad wizard Leo Burnett who in 1935 added the "Jolly" to the Green Giant's name and who took the first steps toward making him less terrifying in print ads, in part by replacing his scowl with a smile. In the character's first TV spots in the '50s, though, the giant was scarier than ever. Finally the by-then-thriving Burnett agency discovered that by downplaying the his presence, he was not only far less frightening, but also far more effective.
快樂的綠巨人
快樂的綠巨人深受人們喜愛，因此明尼蘇達山谷罐頭公司(Minnesota Valley Canning Co.)1950年注冊了這個名字，用他作為代言人。但在上世紀20年代至30年代，早期的幾代綠巨人形象似乎并不快樂。事實上，直到1935年，未來的廣告奇才李奧•貝納才在“綠巨人”的名字前面加上了“快樂的”三個字，并開始采取措施改變印刷廣告上綠巨人令人恐懼的形象，主要做法是用笑容取代了綠巨人的怒容。但在50年代，這個角色第一次在電視上出現(xiàn)時，他的形象反而更加恐怖。最終，當時蒸蒸日上的貝納廣告公司(Burnett)發(fā)現(xiàn)，通過簡化綠巨人的形象，不僅使它不再那么令人恐懼，而且效果更佳。
Mr. Mucus
鼻涕先生
We all complain about TMI ads that spend 30 seconds focused on some distasteful body function or embarrassing malady. But hey, products for gross stuff deserve marketing too. Enter Mr. Mucus, which can most accurately be described as an anthropomorphized glob of snot. He is the villain in a series of spots for Mucinex, the expectorant originally marketed by Adams Respiratory Therapeutics. But Mr. Mucus might soon meet his demise: Reckitt Benckiser, which acquired Adams in 2007, is reviewing its advertising and might end the phlegmy foe's 10-year run.
鼻涕先生
有些廣告會用30分鐘描述一些令人不快的身體機能或令人尷尬的疾病。我們往往會抱怨這種信息量過多的廣告。但別忘了，針對令人惡心之物的產(chǎn)品也應該有開展市場營銷的機會。讓我們看看“粘液先生”吧。準確地說，粘液先生是一滴擬人化的鼻涕。在祛痰藥物Mucinex的一系列廣告中，粘液先生一直扮演大反派。這款藥物最初由亞當斯呼吸道藥品公司(Adams Respiratory Therapeutics)銷售。不過，粘液先生的使命或許即將結(jié)束：亞當斯呼吸道藥品公司于2007年被利潔時集團(Reckitt Benckiser)收購。后者目前正在評估亞當斯呼吸道藥品公司的廣告，或許將終止這款祛痰藥長達10年的系列廣告。
Wenlock and Mandeville
文洛克與曼德維爾
The pre-jolly Green Giant proved that original, creative ideas aren't always good. But as McDonald's "Happy" shows, soulless, systematized, bureaucratic approaches to mascot development (and most other kinds of development) almost never produce anything worthwhile. It reportedly took 18 months and 40 focus groups to come up with Wenlock and Mandeville, the cycloptic creatures that represented the 2012 Olympics in London. One critic decided the pair was the result of a "drunken one-night stand between a Teletubby and a Dalek."
文洛克與曼德維爾
之前的“快樂的綠巨人”證明，原創(chuàng)的、有創(chuàng)意的設計不一定總是好的。但麥當勞的新吉祥物“Happy”卻表明，在吉祥物創(chuàng)作(和幾乎其他大多數(shù)類型的研發(fā))過程中，缺少靈魂的、系統(tǒng)性的、官僚主義的方式基本不可能誕生出有價值的作品。據(jù)報道，有40個焦點小組歷時18個月才想出文洛克和曼德維爾——代表2012年倫敦奧運會的兩個獨眼生物。一位批評家表示，這兩個生物是天線寶寶(Teletubby)和戴立克(Dalek)酒后一夜情的產(chǎn)物。
Mr. Six
6號先生
Imagine Uncle Junior from The Sopranos dancing wildly while in the deepest throes of a month-long meth tweak, and you have Mr. Six. The mascot for the Six Flags theme parks was introduced to the public for some reason in 2004. Although creatively speaking not much above a rappin' grandma, Mr. Six proved to be effective, especially among kids, and has been widely parodied. Nevertheless, when Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder purchased Six Flags in 2005, he announced the very next day that Mr. Six would be deep-sixed. He was brought back in 2005, prompting Time magazine to wonder: "Why Is Six Flags Targeting Kids with a Creepy Old Guy?"
6號先生
大家可以想象一下《黑道家族》(The Sopranos)中的尤尼奧爾叔叔在戒毒一個月期間毒癮發(fā)作最痛苦時瘋狂跳舞的情景，這便是6號先生。六旗主題公園(Six Flags)2004年因為某些原因推出6號先生作為自己的吉祥物。雖然從創(chuàng)意來說無法超越“說唱祖母”，但事實證明，6號先生產(chǎn)生了很好的效果，尤其是受到了孩子們的歡迎，而且得到了許多人模仿。2005年，華盛頓紅人隊(Washington Redskins)老板丹尼爾•斯奈德收購六旗主題公園，交易第二天，他便宣布放棄使用6號先生。但在2005年，這座公園重新啟用了這個吉祥物?！稌r代》(Time)雜志不由得發(fā)出疑問：“以兒童為目標群體的六旗主題公園為什么用一個古怪的老家伙作為吉祥物?”California Raisins
加州葡萄干
Few brand mascots are as well known as the California Raisins, and that's only partly because the desiccated Claymation characters have served as the basis for a million jokes about the aging Rolling Stones. The Raisins characters owned TV advertising in the '80s -- they had their own line of merchandise and even an Emmy-winning mockumentary, Meet the Raisins! in 1988. But let's face it, those dried grapes look as likely to eat us as we are to eat them.
加州葡萄干
很少有品牌的吉祥物能像加州葡萄干一樣出名，而其中很大一部分原因是，在與老邁的滾石樂隊(Rolling Stones)有關的無數(shù)笑話中，這些干癟的粘土動畫人物都是不可或缺的笑料。上世紀80年代，這幫葡萄干人物擁有電視廣告，有自己的產(chǎn)品，甚至1988年的偽紀錄片《遇見葡萄干》(Meet the Raisins! )還曾經(jīng)榮獲艾美獎。但我們不得不承認，這些干癟的葡萄看起來像是要吃掉我們，而不是被我們吃掉。The King
國王
Sometimes, being horrifyingly creepy is the whole idea. So it was with Burger King's "The King," which ran from 2003-2011. Meant to become a viral hit, The King succeeded -- and after people started referring to the character as "The Creepy King" (to differentiate it from its earlier, friendlier iterations), Burger King (BKW) was more than happy to accept the appellation.
國王
有時候，讓吉祥物嚇人恰恰就是商家的目的。漢堡王(Burger King)的“國王”便是如此。漢堡王在2003年至2011年期間使用“國王”作為吉祥物，希望他能夠獲得病毒性傳播。 “國王”果然不負眾望——后來人們開始把他稱作“恐怖國王”(為了與之前更友好的形象區(qū)分開來)，而漢堡王似乎樂得接受這樣的稱呼。Lemonhead
檸檬頭
In its by-the-numbers interview of the branding person responsible for the revamping of the eponymous character that represents Lemonhead candy, the Chicago Tribune somehow neglected to ask, "Why are you trying to give our children nightmares?" The movie-theater staple had been produced in Chicago by Ferrara Candy Co. for 52 years. The updated mascot looks a lot like the old one, except that the old one looks a lot less likely to be carrying a length of rope.
檸檬頭
這個吉祥物代言的產(chǎn)品是檸檬頭糖果?！吨ゼ痈缯搲瘓蟆?Chicago Tribune)曾對該公司負責修改吉祥物的品牌推廣人員進行過常規(guī)采訪。只是，他們似乎忘了問一個問題：“你們?yōu)槭裁聪胱屛覀兊暮⒆幼鰫簤?”芝加哥費拉拉糖果公司(Ferrara Candy Co.)生產(chǎn)這款主打電*市場的產(chǎn)品，已有52年歷史。最新的吉祥物與“前輩”類似，只是它看起來失敗的風險會更大。 Quiznos Spogmonkeys
奎茲諾斯連鎖快餐店吉祥物
Like Burger King's "The King," the Spogmonkeys are meant to be disturbing and weird. The characters served for a time as the spokescreatures for the Quiznos sandwich chain, but were originally developed by a private citizen, Joel Veitch, and were already popular online. The campaign, while attention-getting, didn't last long, perhaps because somebody realized that advertising food by using floating, genetically mutated rodents wasn't a good idea.
奎茲諾斯連鎖快餐店吉祥物
與漢堡王的“國王”一樣，Spogmonkeys的目的也是為了產(chǎn)生令人不安和古怪的效果。這些形象曾經(jīng)作為奎茲諾斯(Quiznos)三明治連鎖店的代言人，但它們最初確實出自普通人喬爾•維奇之手，并且早已在網(wǎng)上走紅。廣告雖然吸引了眼球，但并沒有持續(xù)太長的時間，或許是因為有人意識到，用漂浮的、發(fā)生了基因突變的嚙齒動物為食物做廣告并不是什么好主意?！he original Ronald McDonald
麥當勞叔叔原型
The Ronald McDonald we know today has had most of his personality shaved away by years of bureaucratic decision-making. But in his first iteration, played by future "Today Show" weatherman Willard Scott, he had too much personality, and might well have been the reason people started thinking of clowns as scary and creepy.
麥當勞叔叔原型
我們今天熟知的麥當勞叔叔的大多數(shù)個性早已被多年的官僚主義決策磨平。但最初由后來成為《今日秀》(Today Show)氣象員維拉德•斯科特扮演的第一代麥當勞叔叔卻非常有個性，或許人們認為小丑令人恐懼和古怪正是因為受到他的影響。
McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500) new mascot, Happy, has been called "terrifying." And so it is, at least to some observers, what with its oversized, human-looking teeth; its crazed, bulging eyes; and its freakishly attenuated arms. But it's disturbing on another level, too: it was clearly the work of a focus-group-driven corporate bureaucracy trying to satisfy a lot of internal constituencies, as opposed being the original work of a creative team.
麥當勞(McDonald)的新版吉祥物Happy一直被戲稱為“太嚇人”，至少在一些觀察家看來的確如此：擬人的大牙齒;瘋狂凸出的大眼睛;還有纖細得有些怪異的胳膊。而這個吉祥物的另一面也令人擔憂：這很明顯是焦點小組驅(qū)動的公司官僚機構為了滿足內(nèi)部支持者們的產(chǎn)物，而不是來自一支創(chuàng)意團隊的原創(chuàng)作品。
麥當勞(McDonald)的新版吉祥物Happy
Obviously inspired in part by Spongebob Squarepants, it's easy to imagine that Happy was tested and retested, subjected to the scrutiny of a battery of consultants, and tweaked and retweaked until nobody was offended. That was until it was unleashed on the public -- at which point nearly everybody was offended. But as horrifying as Happy might be, he's got lots of company. See who else makes consumers squirm.
吉祥物Happy明顯受到海綿寶寶的啟發(fā)，不難想象，它肯定經(jīng)過了一遍又一遍地測試，接受了一系列顧問的嚴格審查，并且不斷調(diào)整，直到?jīng)]有人感到被冒犯。但這只是在它未公開亮相之前。Happy公布以后，幾乎所有人都感覺不舒服。但令人恐懼的Happy并不不是一個人人。讓我們來看看還有哪些令消費者不寒而栗的吉祥物吧。
The Jolly Green Giant
快樂的綠巨人
The Jolly Green Giant was such a popular character that the company he represented, the Minnesota Valley Canning Co., took his name in 1950. But in his earliest iterations in the '20s and '30s, the Green Giant didn't always seem so jolly. In fact, it was the future ad wizard Leo Burnett who in 1935 added the "Jolly" to the Green Giant's name and who took the first steps toward making him less terrifying in print ads, in part by replacing his scowl with a smile. In the character's first TV spots in the '50s, though, the giant was scarier than ever. Finally the by-then-thriving Burnett agency discovered that by downplaying the his presence, he was not only far less frightening, but also far more effective.
快樂的綠巨人
快樂的綠巨人深受人們喜愛，因此明尼蘇達山谷罐頭公司(Minnesota Valley Canning Co.)1950年注冊了這個名字，用他作為代言人。但在上世紀20年代至30年代，早期的幾代綠巨人形象似乎并不快樂。事實上，直到1935年，未來的廣告奇才李奧•貝納才在“綠巨人”的名字前面加上了“快樂的”三個字，并開始采取措施改變印刷廣告上綠巨人令人恐懼的形象，主要做法是用笑容取代了綠巨人的怒容。但在50年代，這個角色第一次在電視上出現(xiàn)時，他的形象反而更加恐怖。最終，當時蒸蒸日上的貝納廣告公司(Burnett)發(fā)現(xiàn)，通過簡化綠巨人的形象，不僅使它不再那么令人恐懼，而且效果更佳。
Mr. Mucus
鼻涕先生
We all complain about TMI ads that spend 30 seconds focused on some distasteful body function or embarrassing malady. But hey, products for gross stuff deserve marketing too. Enter Mr. Mucus, which can most accurately be described as an anthropomorphized glob of snot. He is the villain in a series of spots for Mucinex, the expectorant originally marketed by Adams Respiratory Therapeutics. But Mr. Mucus might soon meet his demise: Reckitt Benckiser, which acquired Adams in 2007, is reviewing its advertising and might end the phlegmy foe's 10-year run.
鼻涕先生
有些廣告會用30分鐘描述一些令人不快的身體機能或令人尷尬的疾病。我們往往會抱怨這種信息量過多的廣告。但別忘了，針對令人惡心之物的產(chǎn)品也應該有開展市場營銷的機會。讓我們看看“粘液先生”吧。準確地說，粘液先生是一滴擬人化的鼻涕。在祛痰藥物Mucinex的一系列廣告中，粘液先生一直扮演大反派。這款藥物最初由亞當斯呼吸道藥品公司(Adams Respiratory Therapeutics)銷售。不過，粘液先生的使命或許即將結(jié)束：亞當斯呼吸道藥品公司于2007年被利潔時集團(Reckitt Benckiser)收購。后者目前正在評估亞當斯呼吸道藥品公司的廣告，或許將終止這款祛痰藥長達10年的系列廣告。
Wenlock and Mandeville
文洛克與曼德維爾
The pre-jolly Green Giant proved that original, creative ideas aren't always good. But as McDonald's "Happy" shows, soulless, systematized, bureaucratic approaches to mascot development (and most other kinds of development) almost never produce anything worthwhile. It reportedly took 18 months and 40 focus groups to come up with Wenlock and Mandeville, the cycloptic creatures that represented the 2012 Olympics in London. One critic decided the pair was the result of a "drunken one-night stand between a Teletubby and a Dalek."
文洛克與曼德維爾
之前的“快樂的綠巨人”證明，原創(chuàng)的、有創(chuàng)意的設計不一定總是好的。但麥當勞的新吉祥物“Happy”卻表明，在吉祥物創(chuàng)作(和幾乎其他大多數(shù)類型的研發(fā))過程中，缺少靈魂的、系統(tǒng)性的、官僚主義的方式基本不可能誕生出有價值的作品。據(jù)報道，有40個焦點小組歷時18個月才想出文洛克和曼德維爾——代表2012年倫敦奧運會的兩個獨眼生物。一位批評家表示，這兩個生物是天線寶寶(Teletubby)和戴立克(Dalek)酒后一夜情的產(chǎn)物。
Mr. Six
6號先生
Imagine Uncle Junior from The Sopranos dancing wildly while in the deepest throes of a month-long meth tweak, and you have Mr. Six. The mascot for the Six Flags theme parks was introduced to the public for some reason in 2004. Although creatively speaking not much above a rappin' grandma, Mr. Six proved to be effective, especially among kids, and has been widely parodied. Nevertheless, when Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder purchased Six Flags in 2005, he announced the very next day that Mr. Six would be deep-sixed. He was brought back in 2005, prompting Time magazine to wonder: "Why Is Six Flags Targeting Kids with a Creepy Old Guy?"
6號先生
大家可以想象一下《黑道家族》(The Sopranos)中的尤尼奧爾叔叔在戒毒一個月期間毒癮發(fā)作最痛苦時瘋狂跳舞的情景，這便是6號先生。六旗主題公園(Six Flags)2004年因為某些原因推出6號先生作為自己的吉祥物。雖然從創(chuàng)意來說無法超越“說唱祖母”，但事實證明，6號先生產(chǎn)生了很好的效果，尤其是受到了孩子們的歡迎，而且得到了許多人模仿。2005年，華盛頓紅人隊(Washington Redskins)老板丹尼爾•斯奈德收購六旗主題公園，交易第二天，他便宣布放棄使用6號先生。但在2005年，這座公園重新啟用了這個吉祥物?！稌r代》(Time)雜志不由得發(fā)出疑問：“以兒童為目標群體的六旗主題公園為什么用一個古怪的老家伙作為吉祥物?”California Raisins
加州葡萄干
Few brand mascots are as well known as the California Raisins, and that's only partly because the desiccated Claymation characters have served as the basis for a million jokes about the aging Rolling Stones. The Raisins characters owned TV advertising in the '80s -- they had their own line of merchandise and even an Emmy-winning mockumentary, Meet the Raisins! in 1988. But let's face it, those dried grapes look as likely to eat us as we are to eat them.
加州葡萄干
很少有品牌的吉祥物能像加州葡萄干一樣出名，而其中很大一部分原因是，在與老邁的滾石樂隊(Rolling Stones)有關的無數(shù)笑話中，這些干癟的粘土動畫人物都是不可或缺的笑料。上世紀80年代，這幫葡萄干人物擁有電視廣告，有自己的產(chǎn)品，甚至1988年的偽紀錄片《遇見葡萄干》(Meet the Raisins! )還曾經(jīng)榮獲艾美獎。但我們不得不承認，這些干癟的葡萄看起來像是要吃掉我們，而不是被我們吃掉。The King
國王
Sometimes, being horrifyingly creepy is the whole idea. So it was with Burger King's "The King," which ran from 2003-2011. Meant to become a viral hit, The King succeeded -- and after people started referring to the character as "The Creepy King" (to differentiate it from its earlier, friendlier iterations), Burger King (BKW) was more than happy to accept the appellation.
國王
有時候，讓吉祥物嚇人恰恰就是商家的目的。漢堡王(Burger King)的“國王”便是如此。漢堡王在2003年至2011年期間使用“國王”作為吉祥物，希望他能夠獲得病毒性傳播。 “國王”果然不負眾望——后來人們開始把他稱作“恐怖國王”(為了與之前更友好的形象區(qū)分開來)，而漢堡王似乎樂得接受這樣的稱呼。Lemonhead
檸檬頭
In its by-the-numbers interview of the branding person responsible for the revamping of the eponymous character that represents Lemonhead candy, the Chicago Tribune somehow neglected to ask, "Why are you trying to give our children nightmares?" The movie-theater staple had been produced in Chicago by Ferrara Candy Co. for 52 years. The updated mascot looks a lot like the old one, except that the old one looks a lot less likely to be carrying a length of rope.
檸檬頭
這個吉祥物代言的產(chǎn)品是檸檬頭糖果?！吨ゼ痈缯搲瘓蟆?Chicago Tribune)曾對該公司負責修改吉祥物的品牌推廣人員進行過常規(guī)采訪。只是，他們似乎忘了問一個問題：“你們?yōu)槭裁聪胱屛覀兊暮⒆幼鰫簤?”芝加哥費拉拉糖果公司(Ferrara Candy Co.)生產(chǎn)這款主打電*市場的產(chǎn)品，已有52年歷史。最新的吉祥物與“前輩”類似，只是它看起來失敗的風險會更大。 Quiznos Spogmonkeys
奎茲諾斯連鎖快餐店吉祥物
Like Burger King's "The King," the Spogmonkeys are meant to be disturbing and weird. The characters served for a time as the spokescreatures for the Quiznos sandwich chain, but were originally developed by a private citizen, Joel Veitch, and were already popular online. The campaign, while attention-getting, didn't last long, perhaps because somebody realized that advertising food by using floating, genetically mutated rodents wasn't a good idea.
奎茲諾斯連鎖快餐店吉祥物
與漢堡王的“國王”一樣，Spogmonkeys的目的也是為了產(chǎn)生令人不安和古怪的效果。這些形象曾經(jīng)作為奎茲諾斯(Quiznos)三明治連鎖店的代言人，但它們最初確實出自普通人喬爾•維奇之手，并且早已在網(wǎng)上走紅。廣告雖然吸引了眼球，但并沒有持續(xù)太長的時間，或許是因為有人意識到，用漂浮的、發(fā)生了基因突變的嚙齒動物為食物做廣告并不是什么好主意?！he original Ronald McDonald
麥當勞叔叔原型
The Ronald McDonald we know today has had most of his personality shaved away by years of bureaucratic decision-making. But in his first iteration, played by future "Today Show" weatherman Willard Scott, he had too much personality, and might well have been the reason people started thinking of clowns as scary and creepy.
麥當勞叔叔原型
我們今天熟知的麥當勞叔叔的大多數(shù)個性早已被多年的官僚主義決策磨平。但最初由后來成為《今日秀》(Today Show)氣象員維拉德•斯科特扮演的第一代麥當勞叔叔卻非常有個性，或許人們認為小丑令人恐懼和古怪正是因為受到他的影響。