Side Research: Iconic Product Mascots

From as early as the interwar years, food and drink companies have used mascots to promote their products. These mascots are designed from the ground up to appeal to kids; they are most often fun, exciting and directly address any children watching an advert they feature in.

One mascot I remember fondly from my childhood is Quicky, an anthropomorphic cartoon rabbit who is the mascot of Nesquik cereal and milkshake mix.

Early packaging for Nestle's 'Quik' instant milkshake mix

The early version of the Nestle's Quik bunny, pictured above, was a cute, smiling character who appeals to children by appearing friendly and approachable. His pink colouring not only represents the flavour of the milkshake mix, strawberry, but pink is also a pleasant colour that denotes a friendly personality.

Previous design for Quicky the rabbit

The version of Quicky I am most familiar with appeared in the 90s and early 2000s. The modernised design, similar in appearance to the Looney Tunes character Bugs Bunny, is designed to appear energetic and full of life. Several television adverts were produced in which Quicky interacted with children, aiding them in everyday tasks with the help of Nesquick cereal or milkshakes. The vision of Quicky acting as a friend to children and helping them out reinforces his image as a personality whom kids can relate to.

The modern version of Quicky

More recently, Quicky has appeared on packaging and in adverts dressed like a skateboarder and adopting a 'cool dude' attitude, keeping with the trendy, hip-hop influenced youth of today. His personality is largely unchanged, but his new design makes him all the more relate-able to post-2000s children.

While his design has changed throughout his time as a cereal and milkshake mascot, Quicky's personality and role has remained the same. Breaking down his character, one can find the aspects of his personality that make him appealing to children. For example, Quicky is:

- Happy
- Energetic
- Lively
- Friendly
- Outgoing
- Funky

One of the reasons I liked Quicky as a child was because he became as familiar to me as a real live celebrity. Watching Nesquik adverts on television or seeing them in The Beano and seeing Quicky was reassuring in a subliminal way, and when I looked at a box of Nesquik cereal or milkshake mix, I knew what to expect. As well as selling a product, mascots can almost become friends to children, letting them know "This is what I like, and you will like it too."