The Ultimate Guide To Fast Food Mascots

To catch the eye of a hungry soul, or to remind a repeat customer of their favorite foods, the modern food industry has leaned heavily on branded iconography for logos, packaging, advertising, and general goodwill. Thanks to the rise in popularity of sports, mascots provide a different physical realm to promote a product, brand, franchise, or company.

White Castle was one of the first fast food restaurants to become a chain. While they never bothered with a mascot for themselves, many of the expanding hamburger, chicken, and pizza joints that followed suit did so with a mascot at the forefront of their brand. For the past century, beloved fast food mascots have come and gone. However, many of them are still going strong, slinging sodas and fries, offering up toys, lending a hand for new location openings, or just staying put, chilling within the confines of their logo to raise a smile in the name of eating.

So, grab a napkin, and in some cases a tissue, as we present to you the ultimate guide to fast food mascots — past and present — in alphabetical order.

For Bojangles Famous Chicken and Biscuits, it's moved apostrophe placement in its chain name more than it's switched up its mascots. Naturally, someone dressing up in a chicken costume has long been a part of their brand, even if the early incarnations were the standard-looking yellow ones.

Over time, its chicken earned a name — Big Bo — changed his feathers from yellow to white, and earned a single piece of clothing — a red vest with Bojangles' stars and his name. Bo's vest is open wide to show off a solid six-pack, one earned perhaps by ice skating, or by getting tips from athletes, like race car driver Jeff Gordon.

Recently, an "unofficial" mascot joined the Bojangles family — Cuppy (not to be confused with the Dunkin' mascot of the same name). Cuppy is simply a Bojangles drink cup with googly eyes and one that enjoys being filled with the brand's legendary iced tea.

Zaxby's is a chicken chain with three clucky mascots, two with names that tip their plumes to their co-founder Zach McLeroy. The main chicken, seen on their logo, as well as in costume form, is known as Big Zach.

The mascot responsible for most of the gospel spreading of Zaxby's is known as Little Zach, or LZ for short. Little Zach is an athletic chicken with a yellow tank top and blue shorts. He delivered the game ball at the 2015 First Responder Bowl and once got chummy with Tim Tebow. One former Little Zach portrayer worked their way up to collegiate ranks by filling out Miami's Sebastian the Ibis' mascot costume.

The face of Zaxby's Kidz Club, LZ is sometimes joined by pal Little Zuzy, who's a tad shorter, wears pink, and wakes up with dreamy eyelashes.

Time has not been kind to the sub shop Blimpie, which has seen its locations drop significantly since 2017, according to 2020 data from Entrepreneur, but it's hard to shake the memory of their adorable mascot. Blimpie Bear started showing his face in print ads as far back as 1986, and later became a live mascot with a white shirt and green or brightly striped shorts. 

When blown up as a giant inflatable, Blimpie Bear wears a green tee and has been so attractive to some passersby that he was stolen twice from a Lenexa, Kansas location.

Pasquale "Pat" Giammarco brought a taste of his old home — Italy — to his new home — Oregon, Ohio when he opened Marco's Pizza in 1978. The mustached founder was such a fixture in his own restaurant that his likeness was caricatured into a dough-tossing logo, Chef Marco, with a trademark filing that dates back to 1983.

More than a decade later, Chef Marco's face was enlarged and manifested in costume form. The pizza-pie-eyed character stays true to his culinary uniform, donning a toque blanche with his name on it, and a three-button white chef's coat. Bushy mustache aside, Chef Marco's most noticeable feature is his giant smile, which happily greets customers at the restaurant.

One of Atari's co-founders, Nolan Bushnell, may have made a name for himself in videogames in the 1970s, but according to the other founder, Ted Dabney, his heart was set on opening a "pizza parlor with talking beer barrels." (via Fast Company). When Bushnell opened his first restaurant, Coyote Pizza, he ordered a mascot to match the name but ended up with a rat costume, instead. Bushnell dubbed him Rick Rat, but he was eventually renamed Big Cheese, then Chuck E. Cheese (the "E" standing for "Entertainment").

Chuck E. Cheese became the face of Pizza Time Theatre, which opened in 1977 in San José, California. Similar pizza-tainment places soon sprouted up, and after financial troubles, Pizza Time Theatre merged with ShowBiz Pizza Time in 1985. Ultimately, the merged brands made Chuck E. Cheese the head cheese.

In 2012, the mouse got a rock n roll cartoony makeover, and two years later, a sad origin story as an orphan who never knew his birthday but always enjoyed celebrating others. 

Harland Sanders served in the military, but only became "Colonel Sanders" when he was given the honorary Kentucky Colonel status and title in 1936. He later began dressing the part when he imparted his 11 herbs and spices secret to Pete Harman in 1952, who then launched a finger-lickin' good empire in Sanders' image — Kentucky Fried Chicken.

While Col. Sanders got a piece of the action, he served the brand more as a logo, living mascot, and ambassador, also making cameos in movies like "Blast Off Girls" and "Hell's Bloody Devils." Decked out in his signature get-up of a white suit, black western bow tie, and black shoes, the white-haired and goateed spokesman was an ever-ready presence in advertising, as well.

When Sanders died in 1980, KFC waited 14 years before letting someone else assume the Colonel role. They started with Henderson Forsythe, and have since used a who's who of stars, including Jason Alexander, Reba McEntire, and even Robocop.

Dairy Queen's reign began in 1940 and started rolling out mascots a decade later. Curly the Clown was given a brief chance at the gig, an Eskimo Girl was kept above some of their locations, and the Dilly Bar was once one happy cowboy. By the 1960s, when the company remodeled the stores with their famed red roofs, a Dutch maid named Little Miss Dairy Queen lived atop them.

Hank Ketchum's "Dennis the Menace" comic strip often shared same-page real estate with Dairy Queen in newspapers, and by March 1972, the former became the latter's spokestoon. Ketchum told the Leader-Telegram that the partnership that ended in 2002 wasn't "in-your-face," which suited Dennis, who "is not a huckster."

Starting in the late 1980s, DQ tapped Curly Top as an in-person mascot that looks like the restaurant's signature ice cream cone. But life isn't easy for Curly Top, who has experienced deflation, assault, and cone-napping.

Michael Vale made quite a face for himself as a TV pitchman, first as a Clio Award winner playing Sam Breakstone, and later with glazed eyes for Dunkin' Donuts (now known simply as Dunkin'). According to his wife Nancy, Vale gave the early-to-rise baker he played "the name Fred because it just seemed to connote a nice, lovable guy. He was Fred, the guy next door," (via Boston Magazine).

In 1982, the sleepy "time to make donuts" ads started airing, and "Fred" became famous in his own right. When Dunkin' shifted its focus to coffee and drinks, Fred was taken off the air in 1997, but was given a hero's parade and kept on as a brand ambassador. Vale told Newsday, "I can now sleep past 4 a.m."

These days, it's Dunkin' Cuppy who's making the rounds and grounds as the company mascot.

Carl and Margaret Karcher turned their popular hot dog stands into Carl's Drive-In Barbeque, then in 1956, they opened "a smaller but speedier version of the original" called Carl's Jr. Around the same time, a bright yellow, five-pointed Happy Star appeared on the scene, with a wide smile that matched Mr. Karcher's. The two actually starred in a series of talkative animated TV ads together in the 1990s.

According to his LinkedIn page, Happy Star's role with Carl's Jr. and Hardee's (which are one and the same) is "rescuing people from the monotony of breakfast, lunch, and dinner," and "generally being a chill guy to hang out with." The mascot has spread cheer and food in an off-Broadway show, a 72-hour Twitch live stream, as a Shrinky Dink, and has even lent his body to pad Rob Dyrdek's fun stunts. 

When an Indiana University student lost 245 pounds in his own self-created "Subway Diet," it caught the attention of the student newspaper in 1999, then was picked up by Men's Health Magazine for "Stupid Diets That Work." Early in the following year, Subway tapped that slimmer Hoosier, Jared Fogle, to tell his "story" in a series of ads.

Over the next 15 years, and more than 300 commercials, Jared worked as the face of Subway, making endless public and corporate appearances, popping up on "Saturday Night Live," "Community," Adam Sandler's "Jack and Jill," and "Sharknado 2" and "3."

Things ran afoul in 2015 right before Subway was about to rebrand Jared as a family man. Fogle was arrested and later found guilty of sex acts with minors and the distribution of child pornography.

Picking up the slack have been two mascots it introduced in 2010 — Subman and Subway Dude.

James McLamore and David Edgerton first franchised Insta-Burger King in Miami in 1954, creating the flame-broiler, later the Whopper, and eventually dropping the "Insta" from the name. Then in 1955, the duo coronated the brand's noble mascot, The King, who happily popped a squat on a bun with a milkshake in hand. By the late '60s, a cartoon was installed on the throne, letting the world know that this is "Where kids are King."

To keep up with the groovy McDonaldland crew, in 1977 the company tapped Fred Barton to be the "Marvelous Magical Burger King" who reigned down the fun along with the Duke of Doubt, Sir Shake-A-Lot, Wizard of Fries, and Burger Thing.

In 2004, the brand's ad agency stumbled upon a '70s-era Marvelous Magical Burger King helium balloon tank topper and was inspired to make a creepy plastic King who was given the keys to the kingdom. He was shelved in 2011 ... but this latest king keeps returning to rear its ugly head.

Mike Ilitch wanted to name his Garden City, Michigan fast food joint (which originally also sold chicken, fish, and shrimp) Pizza Treat, but his wife Marian felt something was missing. According to DBusiness, they added her nickname for him — Little Caesar — to the title. For the small sum of $200, artist Don Silverstein drew up a toga-clad, pizza-eating character, creating the logo that is still with us today. Mike told the Detroit Free Press, "I fell in love with it," adding, "He was a goofy looking guy, wasn't handsome."

Little Caesars opened in 1959, and three years on, their logo was seen by legions of eaters when he became a 3D statue watching guard above the stores. Little Caesar, who went to mascot school with Mr. Pringle, loves repeating the word "pizza," eventually traded in his white toga for an orange one, added "LC" patterns to it and manscaped his chest hair, and even had a baby. His image was also painted on the roof of the aptly named Little Caesars Arena, home to the Detroit Red Wings professional hockey team. 

The original Einstein Bros. Bagels mascots (Bernie and Melvyn), were trademarked in 1989 by Bagel & Bagel Bakery & Noshery, one of the predecessors to the modern chain. They were inspired by the family who founded the original restaurants — first named Bagel Bros., which then became Bagel & Bagel. As the co-founder of Bagel Bros. Gail Lozoff explained in an interview with The Daily Meal, it was her husband Richard's uncles, Bernie and Melvyn, who inspired the original mascots' names, along with the likenesses of Richard and his brother-in-law. Richard inspired the little bespectacled brother Bernie, and his brother-in-law the bearded and chapeau-wearing Melvyn.

As the bagel eatery grew, changed hands, and merged with other restaurants, Bernie and Melvyn were sidelined for a while. But when the bagel business eventually donned its current name, Einstein Bros. Bagels, it resurrected the original logo characters, although Bernie was sadly renamed Elmo.

In America, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts are so well known that they don't even require the use of a mascot. However, for their hole-y brethren from across the pond, in the U.K. and Ireland, Mr. OG is more than happy to show his face in any crowd. The mascot's initialism name references the company's pride and everyone else's enjoyment — the Original Glazed donut.

Mr. OG is brown and round with a logo-branded hat and squishy cheeks that expand his smile and keep his eyes in place. In company green, white, and red, he has the can-do(nut) attitude and proved so adorable that plush toys were made of him for Christmas.

Edward V. Gold started a hamburger restaurant in 1934 named after the Popeye comic character Wimpy. The restaurant quickly sizzled into a fast food chain that became popular in the U.K., Australia, and South America.

A Ziggy-like foam mascot debuted for the company in Brighton, England in 1978. His name was Mr. Wimpy, and his getup included a beefeater costume (a natural fit as he promoted the eating of beef), a bulbous nose, and a giant hat that obscured his eyes. 

Mr. Wimpy had his own video game, and a comic book called "Muncher." He was noted for calming children during a robbery, and may even have been knighted by The Queen. While Mr. Wimpy almost died in a "hit and bun incident" accident, he still stands today. 

After first trying a more mature approach to selling roast beef with Barry White's smooth voice in a series of "Appetite Man" spots, things got animated in 2003 when Arby's tried on its mascot Oven Mitt for size. The spokesthing, visualized by the same studio that gave rise to The Noid, was voiced by Tom Arnold.

In just two short years, the Mitt was omitted, being roasted by The Onion and comedian Jim Gaffigan, who wrote in his book "Food: A Love Story," "Arby's tried to replace the cowboy hat with a talking oven mitt ... Unfortunately, the oven mitt just made people buy more Hamburger Helper, so Arby's went back to the hat." 

In 1958, Wichita University students Frank and Dan Carney launched Pizza Hut, and Dan's fraternity brother Ed Pointer created a mascot for them as a favor — Pizza Pete. Pointer took payment in the form of having his name appear below his character (via The Wichita Eagle).

Pete was "a fun-loving pizza slinger sporting a slouch hat, neckerchief, and stylish mustache," who served the burgeoning chain well. His image adorned the sides of its famed red-roof buildings, Hut Bucks, Pizza Hut toys, and its logo until a rebrand by Sam Moyers came about in 1974.

While Pete hasn't made many repeat appearances in the last five decades, you can still find him smiling at some retro "classic" locations, like the one in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania.

Burger Queen (no relation to Burger King) was a Kentucky-based chain that got buzzing in 1971 with their "Queenie Bee" mascot. Queenie was kept busy with in-store appearances, brought to life first by Joyce Murphy, then Susan Bandy (whose dad was a local Ronald McDonald). Bandy told The Courier-Journal "It's the best experience any actress could get ... I meet roughly 1,000 children in two hours. I have to be prepared for anything."

In 1981, Burger Queen was rebranded as Druther's but went in a new direction with a funky Johnny Appleseed-like troubadour mascot, Andy Dandytale. In 1990, a majority of Druther's restaurants were converted to Dairy Queens, and today only one location remains. The Druther's in Campbellsville, Kentucky displays Queenie Bee on its exterior sign, and still offers the Andy Dandytale Dandy Dinner.

Hotelier Robert L. Brock had franchised some Pizza Time Theatres (if you'll remember, it was the predecessor to Chuck E. Cheese), liked what he saw, and struck out on his own to form rival ShowBiz Pizza Place. The creative engineering maestro Aaron Fletcher quickly conjured up an "Electroanimated" show like no other.

The restaurant showcased the sweet sounds of The Rock-afire Explosion band, featuring lead bear (and main mascot) Billy Bob Brockali, who was backed up by Looney Bird, Dook LaRue, Fatz Geronimo, Beach Bear, Rolfe DeWolfe, Earl Schemerle, and Mitzi Mozzarella. Fletcher told The Arizona Republic that "This is the beginning of interactive entertainment. We won't be dealing with a trapped audience."

After ShowBiz acquired Pizza Time Theatre in the mid-80s, the Rock-afire Explosion was converted to a band to support their better-known new asset — Chuck E. Cheese and Munch's Make Believe. While the Rock-afire Explosion Show came to an end, they still hold court at Billy Bob's Wonderland and at the homes of diehard fans.

Roy W. Allen started selling root beer at a Lodi, California roadside stand in 1919 and partnered with Frank Wright to form A&W to foam up one of America's first fast food franchises. It took until the 1960s for the company to lean on mascots, first forming a (burger) family — Papa Burger, Mama Burger, Teen Burger, and Baby Burger — as statues that stood tall outside some locations.

Wanting to stay relevant in the '70s as McDonald's was taking over the industry, A&W hired a Toronto ad agency that came up with a mascot that tested poorly with focus groups. Despite reservations, they moved forward with Rooty the Great Root Bear anyway. The furry and fun Goodwill Ambassador was introduced in 1974 wearing an orange sweater and a tam o' shanter cap while bouncing about to a jingle called "Ba-Dum Ba-Dum." Rooty hibernated for some time at the turn of the century, but returned in 2012 to light up social media, becoming the first mascot with a LinkedIn page, and mocking M&M's recent changes by vowing to no longer walk around pantless.

Starbucks' nautical name (with links to Moby Dick's fictional first mate, Starbuck) inspired logo designer Terry Heckler to draw up a mermaid harkening to the past. Heckler told The Seattle Times that she was "a metaphor for the allure of caffeine, the sirens who drew sailors into the rocks."

Debuting in 1971, Starbucks' siren was first a bare-chested, double tail-spreaded temptress, which ultimately proved to be a little too risqué. Her hair was elongated to cover her breasts in 1982, and a decade later, the tail duo was made up to be a bit more modest looking. Starbucks' creative director Steve Murray said "She is not a real person, but we kind of think of her as one." A physical mascot has never been known to make an appearance, but that hasn't stopped fans from dressing up as the siren for Halloween.

While Firehouse Subs does not officially have a mascot, the sandwich chain founded by brothers (and fellow firefighters) Chris and Robin Sorensen in 1994 has had no problem using a dalmatian dog as a volunteer one. The National Fire Protection Agency created Sparky the Fire Dog in 1951, and since Firehouse Subs does a lot of crossover events with the agency, the real Sparky (or a costumed dalmatian that looks like him and is casually nicknamed Sparky) is often seen in and around the stores.

Sparky has been an obedient presence at kids' nights, when Santa comes to town, and on the company's eye-catching murals. Most importantly, Sparky is regularly involved with the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation and its public events, which has awarded more than $73 million to public safety organizations to provide equipment, training, education, and support to hometown heroes.

Gidget the chihuahua's first commercial job was for Hardee's, and had it not been for a last-minute role reversal between her and a dog named Dinky, she would never have become the Taco Bell Chihuahua. The first ad starring Gidget (and the soon-to-be-forgotten Dinky) aired in 1997 and included the catchphrase "Yo quiero Taco Bell," voiced by Carlos Alazraqui. Alazraqui told the SFGATE the accent is a combo of Peter Lorre, Ren (of the "Ren and Stimpy Show"), and a touch of Anthony Quinn from "Requiem for a Heavyweight."

Gidget lost her job after three years and died in 2009, but her trainer Sue Chipperton said, "without the switch, Gidget would ... never have walked the red carpet, appeared in movies, met celebrities, or been the subject of a book ["A Famous Dog's Life: The Story of Gidget, America's Most Beloved Chihuahua,"].

"Auntie" Anne Beiler may have lent her name to her franchise, but when it comes to representing the brand, a hat-wearing, salted blue pretzel named Twistee has been doing all the kneadful promotional work since 2000. In a rare interview with PopIcon, Twistee revealed the origin of his name, "when you visit our stores you'll see that all of our pretzels are made from fresh dough and twisted by our talented crew members all day long. That twisting motion led to my name — Twistee!"

Twistee has traveled far and wide on behalf of Auntie Anne's, handing out pretzel dogs, ringing the closing bell at NASDAQ, walking the streets of Cairo, Egypt, and attending Pretzel Rolling Rallies in The Philippines. He's good friends with Carvel's Fudgie the Whale, and like anyone would, he got really excited when meeting Santa and Chewbacca.

As an innovative Kentucky Fried Chicken man who worked directly with Colonel Sanders, Dave Thomas knew that image was everything. So when he struck out on his own in 1969 to serve "old fashioned hamburgers" in Columbus, Ohio, he borrowed his daughter's nickname — Wendy, short for Melinda Lou — and her likeness, too. In his book "Dave's Way," Thomas said "nothing would be a more appealing advertisement than showing a little girl, smiling and rosy-cheeked" adding that Wendy's "cleanly-scrubbed, freckled face was it."

In the early days, his daughter even dressed the part of Wendy, wearing pigtails and a blue and white dress, but the mascot has since lived primarily as a drawing, one that went emo and another time gray.

Before he died, Thomas expressed guilt to his daughter for the pressure he placed on her by naming the restaurant after her. Melinda Lou admits it was hard, but said "I will always love this brand, but not because my name is on the buildings," adding "It's our business. Our family business. For me, Wendy's is my family."