According to E! Online, the cartoon frog that has been a symbol and mascot for the WB network since it got its start ten years ago has been axed. In their words, he is dead and buried, and the reason given? Because he represents a teen outlook for the network which doesn’t mesh well with the demographic they are trying to currently reach, the 25-34 age range.
I’m not sure if I see why they would feel the need to do this. I’m twenty-nine years old, and I enjoyed the frog. I know it was an advertising gimmick and just a mascot, but it was something I was familiar with over the years. It became something I automatically related to the network upon sight. Other products use cartoons or animations in their advertising. Budweiser uses their frogs and lizards, Geico has their gecko, and Aflack has their duck. Yes, some of these have also disappeared just like others in the past have. Does anyone remember the Taco Bell chihuahua or Spud Mackenzie?
These were all gimmicks used to advertise in the past, and some are no longer in use. Perhaps it was the time to lay Michigan J. Frog to rest. The cartoon, created by the late Chuck Jones, would have reached its fiftieth birthday this year. He was the star of a one-off cartoon, never to be seen again before the WB picked him up. He had been the mascot of the WB since the network got its start. I know it is just a network mascot, but I for one am sad to see him be laid to rest.
From what I hear, I’m not the only one saddened. When the announcement was made by the network that the mascot had been dropped, many questioned the network as to why this mascot was given the ax.
Are there any advertising mascots you enjoy? Will you miss Michigan J. Frog?
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Article comments
1 - rp
That's a strange decision to make considering the last generation who would remember the frog (from his cartoon) are around 25-34 now. Anyway, I'll miss him. I think of him whenever people don't know what the hell I'm talking about and then look at me like I'm insane.
2 - Mark Sahm
While I'd agree our age demographic (I'm 29 too) identifies with the animation, I think if the WB is expected to be taken more seriously as a network, ditching the cartoon frog helps the logo's image.
3 - Dave Nalle
But remember, the frog was burried inside the foundation of a building for many years and emerged. He will return again!
Interesting the demographic they're targeting. I can't see how anyone over about 16 could stand to watch the juvenile soap operas they run in prime time. Angel was much better suited to that demographic and they cancelled it.
Perhaps they're just morons.
Dave
4 - Bob A. Booey
I heard he got in trouble with the law for banging Miss Piggy on the down-low, know what I'm sayin?
That is all.
5 - Bob A. Booey
Speaking of which, did anyone else find it really disturbing that Miss Piggy was drooling over and fighting for a piece of pizza with ham and pepperoni on it in that Pizza Hut commercial with Jessica Simpson? She's, like, a pig.
That's cannibalism. It's very wrong.
That is all.
6 - Tan The Man
That sux...
7 - Eric Berlin
Television networks make lots and lots of very bad decisions.
I'm not sure if this one qualifies, however.
8 - Joe
This is kind of sad...having been a fan of quite a few shows that aired on The WB throughout the years (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Gilmore Girls, Felicity, and Roswell among the better of those) it's a little disappointing to see that they're shifting their priorities and going in a different direction.
Poor little frog.
9 - Nancy
I liked Michigan J. Frog. For those of us who saw & remembered the classic cartoon from whence he sprang ("One Froggy Night"), he was a symbol of the understated wittiness of the old WB cartoons, where when Wiley E. went over the cliff, you didn't hear him hit the ground with a loud "BAM!", you just saw a little tiny puff of dust 'waaaaaaaay down there.... and it was funnier than any loud BAM! could ever have been.
All I can say is, it is a known fact that corporate executives almost universally are the LAST ones to be 'in touch' with what the public wants.
10 - Eric Berlin
Did the frog really ever do anything for the network, though? Wasn't he basically a static image next to the corporate logo?
Maybe he put his hat on every once in a while?
11 - Bryan McKay
The Frog could sing and dance like no other vaudevillian cartoon corporate mascot, EB. Didn't you ever see the commercials?
12 - Eric Berlin
I think I last watched a WB commercial circa 1998 or so.
13 - iblistech
I liked Michigan J. Frog a lot too. I was a huge fan of him eversince I first saw him which was 12 years ago in 1996 when I was only 6 years old. I am now 18 years old and I still remember him and I'm not around 25-34 years of age... not yet anyway... but still... and yes, even I miss him very much.