Creepy? Offensive? ASU Mascot Sparky Ranks Among Worst in Survey
If you've met Sparky the Sun Devil, you know he's a man of few words.
Arizona State's mascot, present at most sporting events and proud owner of a pitchfork, is a symbol of pride for many around the state of Arizona and fellow Sun Devils who have made the voyage out of state.
ASU simply isn't represented by a basic character. No wildcats or bulldogs here (although Arizona State did choose bulldogs early on before making the change to Sun Devils), and certainly no basic colors like red, white and blue.
There's no doubting Sparky is beloved by past, present and future Sun Devils. However, that's just about where the praise ends for ASU's mascot.
Quality Logo Products surveyed nearly 1,300 people recently on college mascots, asking them to rank mascots on factors such as best/worst overall, sexiest/unsexiest, creepiest and most offensive.
Let's just say nobody found Sparky sexy.
In the survey, Sparky came in as the seventh-most creepiest mascot among those polled.
People not liking devils? Mix that with the sun, the most powerful star known to our galaxy, and it's understandable. Evil and heat, biblically speaking, has not been a popular combo.
Sure, that placement isn't far-fetched. The Stanford Tree finished fourth and in that comparison, Sparky's ranking isn't terrible.
However, Sparky also found himself on the list of most offensive mascots in America, coming in as the eighth-most offensive. Again, the whole devil appeal likely isn't favorable to people of faith. Yet where's Duke's Blue Devil?
Nowhere to be found, that's where. Sparky knows how to take the heat, and that's the only reason he's up there and the Blue Devil isn't. If doing 70 push-ups in Tucson is offensive, Sparky likely won't mind being on that list.