Phillie Phanatic earns top mascot honor
Philadelphia mascot edges San Diego Chicken on Forbes list
By Joseph Santoliquito / Special to MLB.com[/url]
The Phillie Phanatic will turn 30 on April 25, but there's still a lot of little kid in the playful, lovable 300-pound green furry creature from the Galapagos Islands who's the Phillies' biggest fan.
Apparently, the Phanatic has had a growing fan base of his own over the past 29 years, and the Phillies mascot reached a special milestone this week, when he was named as the top mascot in sports, according to a market research group whose findings were reported Wednesday on Forbes.com.
The Phanatic edged out a mascot legend in the San Diego Chicken for the No. 1 spot on The Marketing Arm's Davie-Brown Index. The Phanatic's antics have both entertained and enthralled young fans since he debuted in 1978.
Forbes.com noted that the top mascots in sports have appeal to young fans. It's that appeal that forms the foundation of kids growing more attracted to a respective sport. The Davie-Brown Index is used by marketers to determine a celebrity's (or mascot's) brand identity. Scores are determined by calculating consumer responses on eight attributes: appeal, aspiration, awareness, endorsement, influence, notice, trendsetter and trust.
The mascots ranking No. 3 through 10 were: Mr. Met (New York Mets), the Racing Sausages (Milwaukee Brewers), Benny the Bull (Chicago Bulls), the Rally Monkey (Los Angeles Angels), Sourdough Sam (San Francisco 49ers), Rowdy (Dallas Cowboys), Rally (Atlanta Braves) and Miles (Denver Broncos).
behind the Racing Sausages! Rare air for Benny
