History Main / MovementMascot

* ''Anime/VoltesV'' is big in the Philippines because [[BannedInChina it was banned there by]] [[UsefulNotes/FerdinandMarcos a since-ousted president]], who is often claimed to have found its themes threatening - Wiki/TheOtherWiki [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltes_V#Cultural_impact has more details]].

* [[ComicBook/ThePunisher The Punisher's]] skull insignia has been co-opted by a few police departments and military units thanks to his no-nonsense approach to stopping crime and his background as a war veteren. Creator/GerryConway, who created the character, [[https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/punisher-creator-gerry-conway-cops-using-the-skull-logo-are-like-people-using-the criticized this practice]] as the Punisher was meant to be a violent vigilante and a representation of the failures of the justice system.

** An example InUniverse occurs after [[spoiler:Arthur kills (first [[CrimeOfSelfDefense in self defense]] and later with a purpose) the three employeers of Wayne Enterprises (seen by witnesses being done by an unknown guy dressed as a clown), which is seems by the unhappy society as an act of rebellion against the system, being various protesters wearing clown masks in later manifestations.]]

* ''Anime/VoltesV'' is big in the Philippines because [[BannedInChina it was banned there by a since-ousted president]], who is often claimed to have found its themes threatening - Wiki/TheOtherWiki [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltes_V#Influence_and_legacy_in_the_Philippines has more details]].

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepe_the_Frog Pepe the Frog]], a character from Matt Curie's ''Boys' Club'' comic book became famous thanks to TheInternet, being a famous MemeticMutation during the end of the TurnOfTheMillennium and beginnings of TheNewTens. However, in 2016 Pepe became a symbol for Alt-Right movements and UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump supporters, being dismissed by a lot of people, even for Pepe's creator. Recently his image was "saved", being used by protesters in the Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests as a symbol of liberty and resistance, this time supported by Curie.

** For example, in a Thailand vs. Chinese internet war in 2020, also known as Thai-Chinese Meme War, [[https://image.taiwannews.com.tw/photos/2020/04/13/1586768180-5e942934bf064.jpg an Thai people calls his home country is poor but refers China as "pooh", and to add insult to injury, he added the photo of peoples in an Polish city gathering around in Pooh Bear suit;]] and Indian peoples (even more so since the ongoing China–India skirmishes), and [[https://twitter.com/IrrawaddyNews/status/1379351530826952705 recently,]] Myanmar protestors wears Pooh Bear mask as an insult to president Xi after Myanmar protestors disappointed that they found out that China has [[spoiler:voiced their open support for Myanmar militarily government.]]
** Sadly this meme resulted in the Taiwanese indie horror game ''VideoGame/{{Devotion}}'' losing its publishing license in China, and was pulled from Steam after it was review bombed by more nationalistic Chinese gamers.

* The title character of ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'', specifically the Franchise/{{Disney|AnimatedCanon}} version, was used by Chinese internet users to mock their president, Xi Jinping, because of the similarities with the character, usually getting photos of the president and compared with Pooh's poses. This was the reason that usage of this character in political context was BannedInChina, and Chinese people who are against Xi Jinping still use Pooh's image as a symbol against Chinese government in general and their unfair laws.

* ''Franchise/{{Touhou}}'''s Momiji has become a pro-[[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump Trump]] symbol, thanks to a [[MemeticMutation memetic]] [[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/238457383628701697/671030296015142923/make-america-great-again-momiji-inubashiri-from-touhou-dont-know-52628803.png image]] of the character wearing a [=MAGA=] hat.

* The character of ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'', specifically the Franchise/{{Disney|AnimatedCanon}} version, was used by Chinese internet users to mock their president, Xi Jinping, because of the similarities with the character, usually getting photos of the president and compared with Pooh's poses. This was the reason that usage of this character in political context was BannedInChina, and Chinese people who are against Xi Jinping still use Pooh's image as a symbol against Chinese government in general and their unfair laws.
* WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants became an unofficial [[https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wdpawm/spongebob-squarepants-egypts-new-revolutionary-symbol mascot]] for youth protesters in the Middle East during the UsefulNotes/ArabSpring.

* Manny Heffley from ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' became the face of an anti-police brutality movement on [=TikTok=] in 2020, with people drawing or painting graffiti of Manny's head next to anti-police slogans. "The Manny will not be televised" became a rallying cry, based off the Gil Scott-Heron poem "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."

* Manny Heffley from ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' became the face of an anti-police brutality movement on [=TikTok=] in 2020, with people drawing or painting graffiti of Manny's head next to anti-police slogans. "The Manny will not be televised" became a rallying cry as a euphemism for the Gil Scott-Heron poem "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."

SubTrope of {{Mascot}} (which is this but for ProductPlacement), KitchenSinkDrama and AudienceReactions. Usually overlaps with GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff, being the character targeted as mascot from a different country. Not to be confused with SugarWiki/GushingAboutCharactersYouLike where a few people calls it a mascot instead of a bigger group. See also IconOfRebellion and TheVoiceOfAGeneration.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' became an unofficial [[https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wdpawm/spongebob-squarepants-egypts-new-revolutionary-symbol mascot]] for youth protesters in the Middle East during the UsefulNotes/ArabSpring.

* The eponymous ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' became an unofficial [[https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wdpawm/spongebob-squarepants-egypts-new-revolutionary-symbol mascot]] for youth protesters in the Middle East during the UsefulNotes/ArabSpring.

* Mac Tonight was a moon-faced mascot for UsefulNotes/McDonalds that was part of an advertising campaign to promote night-time orders of food. The character ended up becoming a meme on Website/{{YTMND}}, where he was dubbed "Moon Man" and text-to-speech programs were used to have him utter nonsense raps and racist spewings. By UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, Moon Man became [[https://www.salon.com/2016/10/25/meet-moon-man-the-alt-rights-new-racist-rap-sensation-borrowed-from-1980s-mcdonalds-ads/ a symbol for the alt-right movement]] and new videos were made were he raps about supporting white supremacy and police brutality.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': The title character and, in general, all the Crystal Gems have being marked as emblems in the LGBT community. Some also consider Steven an icon against the traditional and stereotypical norms of masculinity on the Internet and believe him to be an example to the new generations.
* The character of ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'', specifically the Franchise/{{Disney|AnimatedCanon}} version, was used by Chinese internet users to mock their president, Xi Jinping, because of the similarities with the character, usually getting photos of the president and compared with Pooh's poses. This was the reason that usage of this character in political context was BannedInChina, and Chinese people who are against Xi Jinping still uses Pooh's image as a symbol against Chinese government in general and their unfair laws.

SubTrope of {{Mascot}} (which is this but for ProductPlacement), KitchenSinkDrama and AudienceReactions. Usually overlaps with GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff, being the character targeted as mascot from a different country. Not to be confused with SugarWiki/GushingAboutCharactersYouLike where a few people calls it a mascot instead of a bigger group. See also IconOfRebellion.

Compare IntellectualPropertyReligion.

** Not exactly the character itself, but Pikachu also appeared as one of the mascots of the 2019 Chilean protests, in the form of a corporeal. The backstory is very innocent: a woman's child took the cellphone and bought various products from China, being the Pikachu corporeal one of them (for adult size), then the conflict started and in October and when the "biggest march of Chile" happened, the woman opted to go as Pikachu, dancing during the protests and bringing joy and hope to the rest of the people and became a symbol until today. She's already know as "Baila Pikachu" (Dance Pikachu) and even has [[https://www.instagram.com/bailapikachu.oficial her own Instagram account]].

* The character of ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'', specifically the Franchise/{{Disney|AnimatedCanon}} version, was used by Chinese internet users to mock their president, Xi Jinping, because of the similitudes with the character, usually getting photos of the president and compared with Pooh's poses. This was the reason that usage of this character in political context was BannedInChina, and Chinese people who are against Xi Jinping still uses Pooh's image as a symbol against Chinese government in general and their unfair laws.

* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'':
** This series is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff very popular]] in UsefulNotes/{{Chile}}. When the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Chilean_protests social movement started on October 2019]] against the president Sebastian Pinera, Inosuke Hashibira became the mascot of the movement, having [[https://www.alertageekchile.cl/2019/10/21/diferentes-ilustradores-muestran-a-inosuke-de-kimetsu-no-yaiba-como-parte-de-las-manifestaciones-actuales-de-nuestro-pais/ A LOT]] of fanarts of him battling police and being part of the movement as another Chilean, even having [[http://mouse.latercera.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/y4.jpg his own place in the national emblem]]. As a way to support Chile, other fellow Latin American countries like Bolivia and Peru (also in conflict with their governments) adopted the series' other protagonists [[https://larepublica.pe/resizer/n47zU8vQpahRDUwXI8QRwcxre0Y=/538x0/top/larepublica.pe/resizer/IHuMce9HUF1OVqZ_fY0tcp-hC7Q=/538x0/top/smart/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-gruporepublica.s3.amazonaws.com/public/IPAG7GWFD5GGPBO2UK3RHKTFN4.jpg as their mascots]].
%%** TheProtagonist Tanjiro Kamado is seen as an example of being a man without the TestosteronePoisoning, being compared with WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse as his Western conterpart, being considered also an example to follow and for the new generations.

* The character of ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'', specifically the Franchise/{{Disney|AnimatedCanon}} version, was used by Chinese internet users to mock their president, Xi Jinping, because of the similitudes with the character, usually getting photos of the president and compared with Pooh's poses. This was the reason that this character and the whole franchise were ''literally'' BannedInChina, and Chinese people who are against Xi Jinping still uses Pooh's image as a symbol against Chinese government in general and their unfair laws.

** TheProtagonist Tanjiro Kamado is also seen as an example of being a man without the TestosteronePoisoning, being compared with WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse as his Western conterpart, being considered also an example to follow and for the new generations.

** TheProtagonist Tanjiro Kamado is also seen as an example of being a man without the TestosteronePoisoning, being compared with WesternAnimation/Stevenuniverse as his Western conterpart, being considered also an example to follow.

* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' is a series [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff very popular]] in UsefulNotes/{{Chile}}. When the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Chilean_protests social movement started on October 2019]] against the president Sebastian Pinera, Inosuke Hashibira became the mascot of the movement, having [[https://www.alertageekchile.cl/2019/10/21/diferentes-ilustradores-muestran-a-inosuke-de-kimetsu-no-yaiba-como-parte-de-las-manifestaciones-actuales-de-nuestro-pais/ A LOT]] of fanarts of him battling police and being part of the movement as another Chilean, even having [[http://mouse.latercera.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/y4.jpg his own place in the national emblem]]. As a way to support Chile, other fellow Latin American countries like Bolivia and Peru (also in conflict with their governments) adopted the series' other protagonists [[https://larepublica.pe/resizer/n47zU8vQpahRDUwXI8QRwcxre0Y=/538x0/top/larepublica.pe/resizer/IHuMce9HUF1OVqZ_fY0tcp-hC7Q=/538x0/top/smart/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-gruporepublica.s3.amazonaws.com/public/IPAG7GWFD5GGPBO2UK3RHKTFN4.jpg as their mascots]].

* Not exactly the character itself, but ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'''s Pikachu also appeared as one of the mascots of the 2019 Chilean protests, in the form of a corporeal. The backstory is very innocent: a woman's child took the cellphone and bought various products from China, being the Pikachu corporeal one of them (for adult size), then the conflict started and in October and when the "biggest march of Chile" happened, the woman opted to go as Pikachu, dancing during the protests and bringing joy and hope to the rest of the people and became a symbol until today. She's already know as "Baila Pikachu" (Dance Pikachu) and even has [[https://www.instagram.com/bailapikachu.oficial her own Instagram account]].