By Heather Taylor, Editor-in-Chief, PopIcon
Hi, Chewbie! The fruity, chewy candy brand HI-CHEW has officially debuted their first official mascot, Chewbie, to the world.
“Chewbie embodies everything that HI-CHEW represents — joy, excitement, and chewiness,” said Teruhiro Kawabe (Terry), Chief Representative for the USA & President, CEO of Morinaga America, Inc. in a press release.
Who Is Chewbie?
Technically, the biggest HI-CHEW candy enthusiasts (AKA the Chew Crew) met Chewbie a little over a week before the mascot received its formal introduction.
View this post on Instagram
A series of social media posts were shared on HI-CHEW’s social media accounts offering fans free candy through a series of giveaways. The nonstop free candy posts became so disruptive that HI-CHEW’s Chief Chew Officer, Jeff, shared a video addressing the internal changes.
Jeff cryptically said a new member had been added to the HI-CHEW team. “While we love their enthusiasm, they’ve gone a little bit rogue with our marketing efforts.”
This new team member turned out to be the mischievous, fun-loving Chewbie. When they’re not taking over the company social media accounts to give the fans free HI-CHEW, they’re choosing to make the world full of chewy goodness.
The ambiguous mascot is described as tall as 11 sticks of HI-CHEW and has a big personality. Chewbie loves to take photos, listen to music, and skateboard. An illustrated “anatomy of a Chewbie” on the HI-CHEW website shares even more of the mascot’s details. Some of these include an affinity for rocking HI-CHEW merch and having perpetually sticky fingers from snacking on endless flavors of HI-CHEW.
Chewbie’s Upcoming Big Break on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Peek through some of Chewbie’s photos on HI-CHEW’s website and you’ll notice the mascot loves to travel. To celebrate the new mascot, Chewbie is heading coast to coast to make plenty of special appearances.
During the week of October 14th, fans will be able to watch the mascot take on Hollywood as Chewbie appears via an integration on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” According to HI-CHEW, they’ll be joining Guillermo for some mischief making in the studio.
Shortly afterward, Chewbie will be New York City bound. Watch them take over a digital billboard in Times Square on October 17 from 4 PM to 8 PM EST. And psst! You should also watch the billboard on 42nd Street and 8th Avenue across from Port Authority. We’re got an inside tip that Chewbie will be sharing how fans can get free HI-CHEW candy.
“Chewbie’s friendly energy and mischievous attitude are sure to bring even more fun to the HI-CHEW brand,” said Kawabe. “We look forward to welcoming Chewbie as our official mascot and creating opportunities for fans to interact with a tangible vision of HI-CHEW.”
Image credits: Morinaga America, Inc.
About the Author
Heather Taylor is the senior writer and editor-in-chief of PopIcon, Advertising Week’s blog about brand mascots. Got a pitch on brand mascots or want to wax nostalgic about characters? Drop her a line at howveryheather@gmail.com.
