Murph – the New Nerf Mascot – Is Utterly Terrifying
There’s plenty of great, recognizable mascots out there. Mr. Met, Brutus Buckeye, Sparty, the Phillie Phanatic, and the list goes on. You could probably picture all of these famed mascots as I named them. However, some mascots are recognizable for the wrong reasons – namely that they are downright creepy. In case you missed it, Nerf has a new mascot and it’s truly the stuff of nightmares. “Murph” is an anthropomorphic beast made entirely of Nerf darts. I wish I was making that up. The faceless plastic creature is heading Nerf’s new marketing campaign: “Unleash the Play in You.”
Again, this is not even close to a joke. Look at Murph and try and tell me this is a joke. Nerf’s representatives spoke on the rationale for the new brand mascot.
Even so, Ad Week reported that Nerf is trying to position Murph as a symbol of “ageless, unbridled fun,” who acts as “a physical embodiment of that feeling you get when you play with Nerf,” with the brand’s Senior Vice President and General Manager Adam Kleinman apparently characterizing them as “a playful spirit and gifted athlete.”
Paper Magazine
Just goes to show that focus groups really aren’t everything. I’d actually love to know who was in that focus group so I can have a word with them. Groupthink at its finest. Naturally, the Internet took Nerf’s creation and ran with it.
I think Murph blows Gritty out of the water for scariest mascot. The horror movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was filmed once Winnie the Pooh entered the public domain. I would not be surprised if we saw something similar with Murph.
Murph is nightmare fuel. It seems the new Nerf mascot is going to be terrorizing inspiring children as the face(or lack thereof?) of their marketing campaign for years to come. Maybe Nerf has really pulled off a 4D chess move in generating buzz around the brand. If that’s really what’s going on, hats off to them for a genius marketing play.
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