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Bringing my detailed thread I just posted on Twitter onto here just in case any of you diehard fans would be interested.
This thread is not a critique of anyone’s feelings for the character. I myself have a fondness for him. I saw him help expand the brand of UL across the country. That is why while doing my Albineaux research, I had to look at why his predecessor failed. These are my hypothesis from lightest offense to worse.
1. His orange. In order to sell the fanbase that this character is a pepper and “hot” the marketing team had to incorporate orange or yellow into the color palette. Neither one of those are the school’s colors (vermillion and white) or its secondary colors (black and grey). This created a clashing contrast with the century of branding UL had been building upon.
2. He scared kids because he doesn’t actually look like a pepper. All mascots bring a level of fear to small children. From the easter bunny to Santa, there’s always going to be a crying child. But if the character gets a reputation for scaring a lot of kids, then something isn’t working with the design. The biggest design problem the last two Cayenne iterations were that he didn’t look like anything a kid can recognize. He’s just this big, red, man on fire. Sure, us adults and college students can love it, but mascots do the most crowd work with kids. In our majority Christian community, our kids are more likely to associate red and fire with the devil than a humanoid pepper, which is scary. Mascots can’t be scary. That is why the costumes for characters like Mike the tiger look relatively harmless.
3. Lack of marketability. Cayenne DID expand our brand but it had a ceiling. An anamorphic pepper doesn’t bring in the same commercial value as an animal. In our state, you see images of tigers everywhere. In Alabama, there’s elephants AND tigers. With animal mascots, fans have access to showing their pride that is outside the university's branding sphere, which is a great thing! Anyone can paint a picture related to the uni for the supermarket, office, living room, etc. This need is solely for college mascots. Cayenne would be a great professional club mascot because of how unconventional he is. But alas, he was made for the University of Louisiana, and couldn’t meet its needs.
I agree with your concluions, I would add that his circular head with no snout made it harder to express excitement and movement.
4. The biggest issue that killed Cayenne and didn’t endear him to the fanbase is: What did he do at games? I can’t remember seeing him do a single skit my freshman year. Every image I google of him, he’s just standing or lightly interacting with the crowd. You look up the Cajun Chicken, you see him bribing refs, or dressed as Elvis, or banging drums just to name a few things. People love the chicken to this day because he did things to ENTERTAIN. I’m genuinely curious to know how entertaining Cayenne was. My guess, not that much since he’s…you know, not around anymore. Mascots needs to be the life of the party.
Again, I am pro UL fans still liking Cayenne, or the Bulldog, or the Chicken. Any UL pride is still good pride to me. But I say all this to emphasis the creative work, and future proofing, Albineaux is getting. He is as well thought out of a character this fanbase has ever been presented. Al comes from artist that is a UL alum, Lafayette resident, almost has a masters degree, Ragin Cajun diehard, and has led multiple highly successful marketing campaigns. You can grab a drink with me anytime to talk about anything. I would not be this passionate about the character if I didn’t see the immense potential for gains for our fanbase, university and community.
Thanks for reading! As always, Geaux Cajuns.
My thoughts touch on point 4.
It would be a challenge for whomever was in the Cayenne costume.
Black is no secondary color. It was a Baldwin idea that a bunch of people followed. Pre Baldwin there wasn’t an ounce of black in the football Uni.Quote:
Originally Posted by CouillonCinema
The chicken was a grown man an alumni and not affiliated with the school at all. He made up all of his own skits. The person inside of cayenne was a young student probably not as much confidence and not quit as sure of him / herself.Quote:
Originally Posted by CouillonCinema
You can make what ever kind of suit you want it’s the person in the costume that will make or break it.
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What's Up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tanned, Rested and Ready.....
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Let's do this !!!!!!!
"That is why while doing my Albineaux research, I had to look at why his predecessor failed."Quote:
Originally Posted by CouillonCinema
Predecessor: one that precedes ;especially : a person who has previously occupied a position or office to which another has succeeded.
Propaganda: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
There has been no mascot since Cayenne, subsequently there is no mascot that has succeeded Cayenne.
Your words are intentionally selective and lead the uninformed to believe that the UL mascot is in fact a white alligator which is simply not true.
But I'm sure you will clarify this in future social media posts.
The alligator has always been Louisiana's mascot.
The only question is when will it be the game day sideline spirit leader?
Whatever mascot is decided upon, there should be at least two people (four would be better for football) that switch in/out of the mascot costume at the end of each half/quarter.
Each person could put their own spin on how the mascot behaves. The crowd would never know the person inside the costume changed, but the different behavior from each person would keep things fresh throughout the game. Also (due to heat), I am not sure if anyone could make it through a whole football game at the beginning of the season.
GEAUX CAJUNS!
our best mascot was still the Cajun Man even if snowflakes said it was racist, of course somehow in the US coon ass became a racist word even though the people who it refers to don't see it that way
Great idea GreatestStory
I thought it failed simply because it looked stupid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CajunRed
Stupid is relative. See the list below.
https://www.si.com/college/2019/08/1...scots-rankings
These made the top-10
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It's all about what works, and Cayenne was well on his way to becoming the next crazy mascot to make it big:
https://www.yardbarker.com/college_f...405296#slide_4
Quote:
19. University of Louisiana-Lafayette: Cayenne
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I WILL rise again.
The pepper didn't have what it takes.
What it had, didn't work.
Personally it failed because it did not work.Quote:
Originally Posted by CajunNation
Cayenne is some New York, view of what Cajun really is.
It never really resonated with the fans. I personally think it was some idea of a bad Salsa mascot.
When i think of peppers j think of NM not Louisiana. Plus it was very difficult to market. It was not funny, or ferocious. It came off like a joke. Thats why it never worked in my opinion.
In my line of work we go through alot rural and alot of wilderness. One thing that alot of Engineers and Conductors point out specially if there from Arkansas is they want to see a gator and when tbey do they get all excited “did you see that gator in that ditch or that bayou in that river.” There was a 8 foot gator laying across the tracks . Also i can coach them on how to say Atchafalaya
Gator is a perfect mascot it is ferocious but could be a fun loving character for kids, and it is something that is very relatable, marketable, mainstream, and most importantly it identifies with our culture. People associate a gator when they think of Louisiana. Specially South Louisiana.
Thats why Swamp People was such a big hit.
Just to prove a point if I gave you a jacket to wear which one would you choose?
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The book is out of print but it's the true story (bio) about a Louisiana woman named Annie Miller and the cover caught my eye.
Alligator Anne the book
Can’t help but think USL used this as the inspiration for Cayenne. Good old Nipplehead.
The Cane Cutters mascot makes it through the entire baseball game in the heat of the summer and it is done by only one person. I’m sure he takes a few breaks but he is visible mingling with kids and adults pretty much the whole game.Quote:
Originally Posted by GreatestStory
I loved that Flamin’ pepper.