The Mascot of the Minnesota Wild
Figure 5. Nordy the "Wild" Animal |
Professional sports teams are accompanied by a mascot in order to further enhance the fan experience at home games. Mascots add an element of fun with their silly antics and cartoonized appearances. Mascots develop a sports team's brand through an appeal to pathos. Not only does a mascot appeal to child fans, but also to adult fans by invoking a feeling of nostalgia about childhood.
Nordy was officially made the mascot of the Minnesota Wild in 2008. He is defined by the brand as "a wild animal" whose true identity is not known. The brand specifically designed Nordy to be an ambiguous animal in order to add to the mystery of the wilderness that the Minnesota Wild represents (Minnesota Wild News, 2008). Nordy consistently wears only Minnesota Wild jerseys and hockey equipment that matches that of the team. |
Nordy's style is perhaps defined by his most striking feature: his hair (Fig. 6). The "traditional" hairstyle of hockey players has consistently been the mullet (Sallas, 2015), a tradition that is represented in Nordy the mascot. This specific detail contains a strong appeal to pathos. First, fans will find the stereotypical and over-exaggerated hockey stereotype humerous. Beyond the humor, though, the mascot's hair represents a deeper emotional appeal that relates to the sport's roots. The Wild show that though they are a new team, they are still connected to the historical traditions of hockey and that they fit in with the long-standing teams.
Nordy has not undergone any makeovers since his debut in 2008. The designers of the mascot were striving to create a "strong and rugged but huggable and fun-loving" mascot. They achieved massive success with Nordy (Andreson, 2011). |
Figure 6. Nordy's Mullet
|
The majority of mascots are designed to be fierce and intimidating to represented the toughness of the team. However, as was stated above, Nordy is more huggable than fierce. This specific design aspect of Nordy may differ from the expected norm of mascot appearance, but it works tremendously well for the target audience of the Minnesota Wild. Minnesotans are often known for their "Minnesota Nice" attitude, which is clearly reflected in Nordy's overall friendly appearance. Nordy's friendly demeanor appeals to Minnesotans because they too tend to view themselves as friendly. A similar strategy is seen when looking at the University of Minnesota's Goldy the Gopher (Fig. 7), a fun-loving mascot who always has a smile on his face.
Figure 7. Goldy Gopher |
These two similarly designed mascots seem to have one goal: use an appeal to pathos to create an emotional bond between the brand and the fans. The oversized eyes of these mascots are friendly and inviting. The design of these mascots' eyes can be referred to as having a "princess eyes" effect. Enlarged eyes create a feeling of innocence and vulnerability (Khazan, 2013). This design is inviting to children because it resembles the look of their favorite cartoon characters. Similarly, this design also appeals to adults because it produces a feeling of nostalgia for childhood toys and also represents the innocence that is sometimes lost in adulthood.
|
Another specific detail of Nordy's design is his customized Minnesota Wild jersey. Upon closer look, fans will notice that Nordy's number is 18,001. This strangely numbered jersey actually is a representation of the community that exists within the Minnesota Wild fanbase. The Xcel Energy Center (home area of the Minnesota Wild) seats 18,000 fans, so Nordy's jersey refers to that capacity (plus one for himself). Nordy's jersey also references the 409-game sellout streak for which the Wild is known, which appeals to pathos because it exudes pride for having such a large fanbase and supportive community.