Happy Star is the mascot of American fast-food restaurant chain Carl’s Jr. and its sibling chain Hardee’s. When combined with Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr. is the #4 US fast-food chain in size after McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s. The twin star logos are unstoppable!
Jack is the mascot of American restaurant chain Jack in the Box. In advertisements, he is portrayed as the founder, CEO and ad spokesman for the chain. The character made his first appearance in 1993.
Wendy is the daughter and fourth child of American businessman Dave Thomas, the founder of the Wendy’s restaurant franchise. She is known for being its namesake and mascot. Her likeness has been used as the Wendy’s logo, in the form of a young girl with red braids, since the company’s founding in 1969.
The King is the advertising mascot for the Burger King fast-food restaurant franchise. The first cartoon iteration of this character was created in 1955. The current extra-creepy/brilliant “Wake Up with the King” costumed mascot was introduced in 2003.
A clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald’s fast-food restaurant chain. He first appeared in 1963. The next two weeks at Mascot Mashup will be dedicated to creating 8-bit versions of some popular food advertising icons and corporate trade characters.
A Mexican painter born on this day in 1907. She claimed her birth date was July 7, 1910 because she allegedly wanted the year of her birth to coincide with the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. She is best known for her self-portraits and married fellow Mexican painter Diego Rivera.
The Man of Steel is a DC Comics superhero and icon of American culture who was created in 1932. He was born on the planet Krypton, before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father. After being discovered and adopted by a Kansas farmer and his wife, he was raised as Clark Kent.
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and dedicated in 1886. The robed female figure represents Libertas, a Roman goddess and embodiment of liberty. The statue, a gift from France, has become an icon of freedom and of the United States. Happy Fourth of July!
P.S. From the mouth of the sculptor himself: “America is an adorable woman chewing tobacco.” – Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi
A culturally influential German-language novelist born on this day in 1883. Kafka is most famous his 1915 novella “The Metamorphosis” featuring Gregor Samsa, who wakes up to find that he has been transformed into a giant insect-like creature. This 8-bit Kafka character is based on Samsa, who was the fictional alter ego of Kafka.
The TCU Horned Frogs mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #48 of 347. The Texas horned lizard (AKA “horned frog”) is the state reptile of Texas. The 2011-12 academic year is the final season of Texas Christian University’s Mountain West Conference membership. In 2012, TCU will be moving to the Big East Conference. This is Mountain West mascot #2 of 8. (View reference images.)
The Boise State Broncos mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #47 of 347. I hadn’t made a college mascot in a while, so here is Buster Bronco. Today is the first day of the 2011-12 academic year, which means Boise State University is now a member of the Mountain West Conference and has withdrawn from the Western Athletic Conference. This is Mountain West mascot #1 of 8. (View reference images.)
Note: Boise State’s Bronco Stadium is known for its blue field color, or “Smurf Turf.” It was the first college stadium field to be any color other than traditional green, as well as the only college to have a non-green field for 22 years (1986-2008). Since 2009, three other colleges (Eastern Washington, Central Arkansas, New Haven) have installed non-green fields, but Boise State holds a trademark on the blue field.
