Meet Fukuppy, the inadvertent Fukushima mascot
Japanese fridge company's cartoon egg with unfortunate name becomes unlikely online star

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
theguardian.com, Tuesday 15 October 2013 09.03 EDT


Fukuppy - the mascot of Osaka-based Fukushima Industries, which makes commercial freezers. Photograph: Fukushima Industries
It wasn't a refrigeration company's decision to use a cartoon egg with wings, of indeterminate gender and with "a strong sense of justice" as its corporate mascot that got Japan-based internet users giggling. It was, simply, the character's name.

Fukuppy has become an unlikely online star after someone spotted his unintentionally hilarious name on the firm's website.

This led to inaccurate reports that Fukuppy was being used to promote the regeneration of Fukushima Prefecture – given the long list of problems to have hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant since the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, some thought the name would have been inadvertently fitting.

"I'm Fukuppy. Nice to meet you," the mascot says on the company's website....