Food branding is there to make us hungry for something specific, even if we aren’t hungry for anything at all. It is also there to give us a sense of familiarity, and it can be anything from a catchy slogan to the color, and even the mascot. Perhaps that is why people were so upset when a new version of Froot Loops’ Toucan Sam showed up.
If you look at any box of Froot Loops, you will see Toucan Sam on the cover. He is a very recognizable bird with a colorful beak to match the colors of the cereal pieces. He used to be an interesting mix of colors and was reasonably accurate to an actual toucan.
Things are changing, however, now that Kellogg’s has decided to change the appearance of Toucan Sam. That’s right, our blue feathered friend is now a neon bird that looks somewhat threatening.
We live in a world that is constantly on the move and we have become accustomed to change. That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that we always appreciate change and this is a great example of how things should stay the same.
Froot Loops went on Instagram to debut the new Toucan Sam and people were not happy about the change. Suddenly, the comment section was flooded with a hashtag #NotMyToucanSam.
Someone at Kellogg's thought it was a good idea to not have Toucan Sam's redesign contain a beak mouth. pic.twitter.com/YjFAVkuuHJ
— Pixelbuster (@Nitomatta) May 11, 2020
People were critiquing the new mascot, perhaps even more than what you would expect. Toucan Sam has a beak and a mouth that are separate from each other, which really is not true for any toucan. In addition, the new toucan has teeth.
Froot Loops fans were even taking matters a little more seriously by redesigning Toucan Sam on their own terms.
Tried my hand and re-designing that new Toucan Sam. Got rid of the awful human teeth, the solid black line-art, noodle wings, paws, and the over saturated colors. While still trying to stick with the modern chibi cartoon design.#art #ToucanSam pic.twitter.com/N8iOhKqTxN
— wingedwolf94 (@wingedwolf94) May 12, 2020
My take on the new Toucan Sam design, the mouth really bothered me so i wanted to try and “fix” it 😂😂😂
What do you think?#FrootLoops #ToucanSam pic.twitter.com/1HR8WGVyj8
— Edupatilla 🍉 (@Edupatilla) May 12, 2020
tried my own hand at a new toucan sam design…..
my main focus was improving the shape language and colors. i wanted something that looks friendly for both rigged and frame by frame animation.#illustration #characterart #mascot pic.twitter.com/UAczj6PJuO— spade 💖💜💙 (@spadearts) May 12, 2020
So what’s the moral of the story? First of all, people don’t like change and secondly, food mascots are a part of our society, like it or not. That isn’t even to mention the fact that birds don’t have teeth.