Duke’s Mayo Debuts First-Ever Mascot, Tubby
It’s not often we hear about condiments receiving their own brand mascots here on the Pop Icon site, but Tubby is no ordinary character. Duke’s Mayo, for the first time in its 105-year history, is personifying its brand with a mascot.
Meet Tubby!
On August 25, 2022, the Duke’s Mayo Twitter account took an unusual turn. A massive mayo jar with thick eyebrows and bugged out eyes posted a selfie on Twitter with the caption “HELLU WRLD.”
The madness spread throughout the day and over the next few days. Tweets posted of a life-size jar of Duke’s Mayo taking bathroom selfies and making friends with a lamp it turned on and off. The jar of mayo sent tweets to various people and brands on Twitter. When it did write its own tweets, they were mostly professions of a great love for mayonnaise.
Later the same afternoon, the jar of mayo’s hijinks insisted the internet interact with it. If you could give it a name, what would you call it?
Many of the suggestions from Twitter users were quite clever. (My vote, personally, was for “Mark Twang.”) The jar slept on the suggestions and the next day, Duke’s Mayo made an appearance on Twitter. The brand insisted they were back to normal and “have found the jar responsible for hacking us.” Which they decided to hire as a full-time mascot.
However, this jar still didn’t have a name and Duke’s Mayo needed one. The brand encouraged fans to vote on their Instagram Stories for their favorite name.
On August 27, 2022, the names were cast and the votes counted. The jar officially had a name: Tubby!
A Condiment Star Is Born
Tubby was an instant hit with Duke’s Mayo fans and the internet in general. Many users even went as far as to declare Tubby was now their husband.
Tubby’s first major outing was at Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 3, 2022. He had to run down a hallway to arrive on time, but this jar of mayo is always ready to represent its brand.
He even had a dance prepared for the big game day!
“Tubby, the mascot, is one more way Duke’s continues to shake up the condiment category and connect with its customers,” said Rebecca Lupesco, Duke’s Brand Manager of Mayohem. (Yes, this is Lupesco’s job title!)
“We’re the rebels in an all too traditional category, and we’ve given ourselves permission to have some fun with this character who is passionate, curious, and a little unhinged.”
Unhinged? Tubby? The character who tweeted about watering some mayo plants? Nah! He’s just full of twang.
“Tubby is bold and not afraid to express himself,” said Lupesco. “He’s actually quite charming — I can’t wait to see what he does next.”
Neither can we. Keep up with Tubby’s adventures on Twitter and Instagram.
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