The San Diego Chicken

The San Diego Chicken, also known as The Famous Chicken, the KGB Chicken or just The Chicken, is an advertising mascot played by Ted Giannoulas, which originated as an animated TV commercial for KGB-FM Radio in San Diego. Writer, cartoonist, and actor Brian Narelle, star of John Carpenter's film Dark Star, was working for Odyssey Productions and offered to animate a wacky acrobatic chicken as part of a commercial contract bid. Narelle went on to direct and animate the commercial as well as create cartoon art for the campaign. In March 1974, Giannoulas (who was a student at San Diego State University) was hired to wear the first suit for a promotion to distribute Easter eggs to children at the San Diego Zoo. A redesigned suit followed that more closely resembled The Famous Chicken today.

The Chicken, whose antics entertained steadily larger crowds, moved on to features at concerts and sporting events (appearing at more than 520 San Diego Padres games in a row). Conflict emerged between KGB Radio and Giannoulas, and the latter was fired in 1977. Another unnamed employee was hired to don a chicken outfit at a Padres game. Fans, many of whom were aware that Giannoulas was not in the outfit, booed the chicken loudly. After a lawsuit was decided in Giannoulas's favor in June 1979 (by Judge Raul Rosado), Giannoulas was allowed to continue to perform in a chicken costume (though not the same as the original costume), and his Chicken emerged from an egg at a "Grand Hatching" seen by 47,000 people as "Also sprach Zarathustra", the theme used in 2001: A Space Odyssey, played. Currently, the Chicken makes about 250 appearances annually across the United States.^[1]

The success of the Famous Chicken helped lead to mascots becoming widespread throughout professional sports, particularly Major League Baseball. The Chicken was named one of the 100 most powerful people in sports for the 20th century by The Sporting News.

Notable appearances

• Early in the first Holiday Bowl, uninformed security guards attempted to eject the Chicken from the field. He refused to leave the game, sitting on the sidelines as the mistake was ironed-out. Meanwhile, as Brigham Young University was working their way through the "red zone" for a touchdown the crowd was chanting, "We want the Chicken."

• The Chicken was on hand at Jack Murphy Stadium on September 10, 1978, when the Oakland Raiders beat the Chargers on the infamous "Holy Roller Play". After the Raiders recovered the winning touchdown in the end zone, the Chicken fell on the ground and lay motionless as though he'd been shot.

• The Chicken appeared at WrestleMania XV and WrestleMania 2000 although the costume was worn by Pete Rose at WrestleMania XV during which he was Tombstoned by Kane.

• The Chicken made a cameo appearance in the cult movie, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes as one of the citizens stomping the remaining killer tomatoes in a parking lot.

• Giannoulas was once sued by the producers of the show Barney & Friends for beating up a Barney look-alike. The Chicken won the case, with the court holding that his performance was satire protected by the First Amendment.^[2]

• In 1979, the Chicken recorded a cover of Rod Stewart's disco hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

• From 1980 to 1983, the Chicken co-starred with catcher Johnny Bench on the NBC TV show The Baseball Bunch, an educational program for children.

• In the 1980s, the Chicken would appear in McDonald's commercials with Ronald McDonald. McDonald's founder Ray Kroc was also the owner of the Padres, at whose games the Chicken appeared frequently.

• The Chicken appears on a card in the 1982, 1983, and 1984 Donruss sets with an offer on the back of the card where you could send the card to The Chicken himself to autograph it.

• The Chicken is featured in the educational economics video, "Chickenomics".

• In 2008, The Chicken was featured in a Sony commercial that also featured Dale Earnhardt, Jr., James Brown and Peyton Manning. In the commercial, The Chicken gets angry and is held back by Manning when a customer says he does not like sports.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball mascots
• Mascot Hall of Fame

Notes

External links

• The Famous Chicken's web page
• A History of Baseball Mascots