LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A national restaurant chain says it's moving on, sidelining its official mascot in its Michigan locations -- but restaurants in Louisville will not be following suit.
According to a report by Fox News, Big Boy restaurants in Michigan are replacing "Big Boy" -- the chain's pudgy but always cheerful mascot -- with Dolly, a forgotten character from the chain's history.
Dolly has been dreaming up this #chickensandwich for quite some time so ....Who is ready for tomorrow?! 🙋♀️#bigcluckindeal pic.twitter.com/VTCeUuGwyK
— Big Boy® (@ItsYourBigBoy) July 5, 2020
The move is part of an effort to promote "The Dolly Chicken Sandwich," a new item on the Big Boy menu.
Fox 8 reports that Dolly was featured in the Big Boy comic book series in the 1950s and will be serving as the company's mascot to promote the new sandwich. For now at least, Big Boy will be stepping out of the spotlight.
According to the news outlet, Bob's Big Boy director of training said, "We are rolling out a brand-new chicken sandwich. We're calling it the best clickin' chicken sandwich around, and Dolly, who has been with Big Boys since the 1950s as far as we can go back with our comic books -- we decided that she's going to be the star of this sandwich, as Big Boy was the star of his double-decker sandwich."
Alessandrini said the company wanted, "to show that we're still moving forward. We recognize the times that we're in, hopefully, turning the corner in this pandemic and come out of it, but we want to set ourselves up for the future as well."
While the change in mascots appears to be no more than a promotional push for the new sandwich, Alessandrini seemed to imply that a more permanent change could take place.
"It is Dolly's time to shine now with our chicken sandwich," he said. "So she's taken the forefront right now. She's in charge. The name will always be Big Boy, but as far as the logo, she's leading the charge, and we'll see when he comes back if he does."
But not everyone is on board with the change. On Tuesday, Jason Vaughn, president and CEO of Frisch's Big Boy, released a statement saying his restaurants would not follow suit.
"You may have heard that some Big Boy restaurants in Michigan, not affiliated with Frisch's, are temporarily changing their mascot," he said. "At Frisch's Big Boy, which operates in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, we're remaining faithful to our beloved Big Boy. For more than 70 years, neighborhood Frisch's restaurants have made memories with your family as the home of burgers, breakfast and Big Boy. We intend that to be the case for at least 70 more."
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