Minnesota’s minor league baseball team will keep its pig mascot name despite an outcry on social media about possible insensitivity.
saint paul saints triple a club The Minnesota Twins have featured a new pig with a unique name as their mascot every year since the team moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1992. Over the years, fans have submitted fun and creative suggestions for the team. oinker: Notorious PIG – Piggy Smalls in 2003, her Daenerys Hoggaryen in 2019, her 867530Swine in 2022.
This year was no exception. After careful consideration, the team chose OzemPig, a play on the name of a popular weight loss drug. Ozempic.in statement In announcing the name, the team claimed that while Saints pigs often feel “self-conscious” about gaining weight, they decided this year’s mascot “needed a change,” and even offered a cute backstory. did.
“After seeing a doctor who was extremely concerned about his cholesterol and heart health, Ozempig vowed to change his lifestyle,” the statement said.
OzemPig, proposed by Sarah Blood of Minneapolis, beat out other strong contenders from this year’s 2,300 submissions, including Sloppenheimer, Porky Blinders, Malibu Lardie, and Artifisqueal Intelligence. However, the team recently decided to have different mascots for the first and second halves of the season, so Ozem Pig will be able to “show off his abs and defined hock” to the crowds at CHS Field through July. become.
While the names are all fun, some on social media slammed the team: insensitive. One user called the name OzemPig “offensive.” Another asked, “How do you think fat people would feel if they came to your games?” Yet another threatened to never take his family to a game again because of it, saying: “Mean and disgusting. Why bully when you can be nice? That’s what I tell my kids, anyway. I want you to take me to the game. Change this.” Otherwise it won’t happen anymore. ”
Despite these objections, front-office executives stand by their company’s pig and its possibly controversial name. “We know how we originally came up with the name, and we’re OK with that,” said Sean Aronson, Saints vice president and director of media relations. ”
“In today’s world, people don’t want to be disrespected. They don’t want to be made to feel a certain way. And I don’t want them to feel a certain way. I’m not going to say that,” Aronson added. “But what I can say is, there was no malice, there was no malice, there was even a discussion in the room when we were considering this name, ‘This might offend some people.’ There wasn’t. ”
Novo Nordisk, which manufactures and sells Ozempic, did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.
The Saints were scheduled to open the season Friday with a home game against the Columbus Clippers, but a spring snowstorm that dumped 18 inches of snow in the area earlier this week meant the field wouldn’t be ready by the time the game started. I meant it. Saturday afternoon’s game against the Clippers.
Last year, the Saints finished in first place. West district They achieved an impressive record of 84 wins and 64 losses in the regular season, earning them a spot in the International League. The Clippers finished in last place.
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