The Waffle Mascot You Probably Already Forgot About

The right combination of a great food product and the perfect mascot is an alchemy that has been studied by advertising experts for decades. The first American mascots are over 100 years old, with food mascots being more recent than creatures representing sports teams. Where would Frosted Flakes be without Tony the Tiger, or McDonald's without Ronald McDonald? Done wrong, however, mascots can be lackluster at best and downright disturbing at worst. Just look at the forgotten genie behind the discontinued Sprinkle Spangles breakfast cereal or vintage sandwich spread Koogle's nightmare-inducing, goggle-eyed monster ... these mascot flops are better left in the past.

Between 2003 and 2007, Eggo, purveyor of toaster waffles, seems to have given into mascot mania and lost its mind a little bit in the process. The brand released a series of some 20+ television commercials featuring "Eggoman," an anthropomorphic waffle with red-garbed arms and legs. Somebody on the Eggo board thought it was a good idea to film a series of Lynchian shorts in which the hapless waffle (who communicates only in grunts, nonsense babble, and screams) gets chased by giant folks, knocked over like a turtle onto a breakfast plate, and slathered in syrup and butter. 

Over time, Eggo expanded the Eggoman cinematic universe to include pancakes and French toast sticks with legs, along with chocolate chip waffles, all of whom repeatedly met terrible fates. Did Eggoman actually sell more food by inspiring people to cruelly off Eggoman themselves? It's hard to say. Eggoman was 86'd before the first Obama administration, and it seems like few people remember him (it?) today.

It's strange to think about why Kellogg, parent company of Eggo, felt the need to take a big risk with weird commercials (even in the Oughties, which were kind of a weird time in advertising overall). Eggo was, and always has been, very successful. What's not to love about frozen waffles? Making your own waffles is time-consuming, especially if you use the unexpected egg white tip to make them extra crispy, and needing a dedicated waffle iron is a bummer. 

Eggo has been going strong since the 1930s, when Frank Dorsa developed a process to flash-freeze waffles and transport them to hungry consumers. The 1970s saw Kellogg develop a blockbuster tagline ("leggo my Eggo!") and cement itself as the leading frozen waffle brand in the country. Today, Eggo waffles are a cultural touchstone, having passed into meme status with Eleven from the hit T.V. show "Stranger Things" loving them, and children of all ages recognizing the characteristic yellow box with the cursive red script.

The world may never know why Kellogg felt the need to bring Eggoman to life. Honestly, the world probably doesn't care at this point, given that it's been almost 20 years, a whole recession, and a global pandemic since Eggoman last got whacked. For the curious or sadistic, Eggoman lives on in recordings and increasingly distant memories tinged with murky nostalgia and a vague hope that maybe the whole thing was a bizarre instance of the Mandela Effect in action.