LAUREN HOBAR
Staff Writer
The Wave Men try out their new role as mascot last week (Photo courtesy Ben Young/Staff Ph.)
Students were disappointed after Tuesday’s unveiling of the new school mascot, but creators were not very surprised.
Alec McNayr, along with Rick Gibson, Stu Hardman and a mascot committee, planned the pilot presentation for students, faculty, coaches and administration. They said they intended to stimulate both praise and criticism to better understand the type of mascot Pepperdine could really stand behind long-term.
At the unveiling, a documentary-style video captured the story of King Neptune’s assassination and the Pepperdine mascot’s re-emergence as the Wave Men.
Willy the Wave Jr., Bruce Undertow, Danni Diesel, Arty Wavespeare, and Dexter Gigabyte shot through Smothers in hopes of convincing the Pepperdine community that they are the ones to carry Neptune’s tired torch of school spirit and athletic support.
The five-studded Wave Men generated confusion, which, according to the committee, was not intended.
“Everyone thought the Wave Men were going to find the new mascot,” senior Nate Law said. “When they found themselves, and everyone realized they were it, it was kind of like, ‘Oh.’”
McNayr said the feedback was predictably varied.
“It is definitely a different idea,” he said, in response to the argument that the contemporary mascot-group concept may not stand against the more traditional and enduring manifestation – say for example, a Trojan.
“I think the idea of an interactive, engaging mascot is pretty attractive,” McNayr said. “But at the end of the day, after all the input, our final version may end up looking like other schools’ mascots.”
The mascot committee began its search for the perfect design last spring. From the start, the committee said they tried to make the selection process inclusive. They blew trumpets, shot up fireworks of advertisements and competitions, all in a humble plea to garner input from the Pepperdine community.
The presentation of a five-in-one mascot indeed triggered the committee’s long wished-for response.
“A mascot should be a figurehead, not a spirit group,” Sakkara Marsh said. “If they want to stick to their idea, there needs to be a distinct leader among the posse.”
The creators said they recognize a strong need to differentiate the mascot from the cheerleaders and are working hard to come up with a mascot for which everyone can be proud.
“I don’t think Pepperdine students like anything right off the bat, but I think the idea has potential,” Waggoner said.
Hardman said the committee will use the results from this test to tweak the mascot. They will then present their revised version in a similar unveiling, all to endure the scoffing, commending and reconstruction process one more time.
“Essentially, we developed a mascot-concept and presented it to a test-market, so that we can gauge what is working and what isn’t working,” Stew Hardman said. “We want to make sure the mascot is well-regarded and well-received versus foisting a mascot out there and saying, ‘This is it.’”
08-29-2005
