We had a good discussion about mascots wearing masks earlier in the pandemic with David Raymond. While teams each have an important decision to make, David made a strong case for mascots NOT wearing masks. Now that the vaccine is out and local mask mandates are loosened, the case becomes even stronger.
One of David’s points was that your mascot is there to entertain, not remind people of what’s dragging them down. The sooner your mascot can shift away from that imagery the sooner they can get back to creating fun. What was once a tool to remind everyone to mask up can now be a tool to show fans what awaits them after they are vaccinated.
Team should be looking to review their mascot masking decision, taking into account local guidelines, character traits, stadium rules and setting. This could also be an opportunity to encourage getting the vaccine with social media posts showing the mascot showing they are vaccinated and the benefit of going mask-less once they have.
Cavs Mascot Sir CC has recently made the move to go maskless at public events.
Has your mascot dropped their mask yet? We’d love to hear your thought process or story. And if you have a social post we would love to see that too. Comment below.
I think that we have at least reached the point where Mascots can stop wearing the PPE virus masks.
Depending on where you live, there is a good chance that you are only still wearing the masks because you don't want people to yell at you in a store.#Masks #Mascots #Sports pic.twitter.com/YGFQf7BBYW
— Nacho Donut (@NachoDonut) May 8, 2021