This team is not bacon down.
A minor league baseball club in Minnesota has decided to keep the cheeky name for its pig mascot, despite public outcry that it’s fat-shaming.
Not everyone thought it was funny when the St. Paul Saints, known for their outrageous promotions, decided to name their adorable piglet “Ozen Pig” after the hugely popular weight loss drug. .
The AAA team created a backstory on their social media pages about how the pig was embarrassed by her recent weight gain and was trying to lose weight.
The backlash came shortly after the Saints announced the pig’s name ahead of Saturday’s season opener, with angry critics slamming the moniker as painful and insensitive.
Team officials were shocked as some people found the name offensive.
“In today’s world, people don’t want to be disrespected and they don’t want to be made to feel a certain way. I’m not saying they’re wrong for how they feel. ” said Sean Aronson of the Saints. Vice President and Media Relations Director.
“But what I can say is, there was no malice, there was no malice. When we were considering the name, there wasn’t even a discussion in the room that this might offend some people. ” he added.
“Ozempig” was chosen from a list of approximately 2,300 entries received by the team as part of the Saints’ “Pig Name Contest.” Aronson said the team was simply looking for an interesting name.
Despite the outrage, Aronson said there are no plans to change the name.
“I know how we originally came up with this name and that’s fine, but after some discussion we decided to keep it,” he said.
Ozempic is the most popular of several new expensive drugs people are taking to lose weight. The drug, originally intended to treat type 2 diabetes, costs as much as $1,300 per month.
Weight loss pills have rapidly gained attention among beauty seekers and celebrities over the past year.
The Saints’ pigs are a fan favorite during the minor team’s games at CHS Field in downtown St. Paul, about 10 miles from the major league affiliate Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis.
The piglet took the baseball to the umpire, and as the summer went on, it grew visibly bigger and fatter, until another piglet took over by midseason.
with post wire
