English football isn’t always known for its family friendliness but the West Ham United Football Club (known as the Hammers) in East London took a step in that direction Saturday by adding another mascot to sports pantheon of cute and fuzzy mascots.

The Hammers' new mascot, Hammerhead (at right), isn’t a shark but, yes, it is a hammer. A dancing, showboating hammer. Hammerhead had something to strut about Saturday as his team topped Barnsley F.C. Tykes 1-0. (And it’s not really nice to pick on tykes, is it?)

The team’s fans, though, weren’t sure what to make of Hammerhead, according to Metro.co.uk. On one fan forum, the site notes, one commenter stated, “Rarely have I been so embarrassed at Upton Park” while another wrote, “I personally thought it was much more entertaining than the game.”Continue reading...

The only motorized vehicle involved with National Hockey League games is the Zamboni ice resurfacer, but it is very likely insured by Geico.

The NHL and the 75-year-old insurance company announced Monday that Geico will continue to be the official insurance company of the NHL in the United States. With the deal, for the next few years Geico gets to sponsor the very cool annual outdoor game, the Winter Classic, as well as the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the All-Star weekend when it is held in the States.

For example, the Winter Classic is being held this year on Jan. 2 at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank, which is normally the home of the Philadelphia Phillies. There will be a three-day fan festival before the Philadelphia Flyer and New York Rangers face off that will feature attractions from several sponsoring brands, such as Verizon, Honda, and Geico.Continue reading...

At least one geopolitical struggle has eased this holiday season, and a temporary peace reigns — around the Great Lakes, that is. This is because Wisconsin and Michigan appear to have buried the hatchet in their epic struggle over which state has the most legitimate claim to the mitten metaphor to describe the shape of their homeland.

Sounds like big stakes, eh? Well, despite the thorniness of the issue, Michigan and Wisconsin tourism officials today managed to declare a truce in the mitten war and even their joint establishment of a philanthropic effort they're calling The Great Lakes Mitten Campaign.

"We encourage everyone in both states to 'shake hands' and donate mittens to help make this winter a bit warmer for those in need," Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said in a press statement announcing a handful of mitten-dropoff sites around the state.Continue reading...

McDonald's may be dealing with Happy Meal fallout from San Francisco to Sao Paulo, but the much bigger picture is this: The iconic brand of American-style fast food is rolling up big sales gains around the globe.

True, the chain's venerable Happy Meal remains under attack by nutrition advocates worldwide. McDonald's seems to be getting around an anti-Happy Meal ordinance in San Francisco simply by charging parents a dime for the toy (which the company then forwards to its Ronald McDonald House charity in San Francisco), though in Brazil, the government has slapped McDonald's with a $1.8-million fine for giving away toys as part of its McLanche Feliz.

But aside from that chink in its armor, McDonald's seems to be doing nearly everything else right. Overall, the chain has the value proposition and strong brand image to perform well despite weak consumer confidence in Europe and beyond, according to a new evaluation of the company by the Fitch ratings service.Continue reading...

It's a border battle fit for the season. And with this new Michigan-Wisconsin dispute comes all the underlying tensions from a long and tenuous adjacency that include zebra mussels, Asian carp, rights to the Upper Peninsula, Packers-Lions, Badgers-Spartans, the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, beach envy, Lake Michigan mineral rights, and which state really has the fattest people.

Yes, Wisconsin's tourism department has appropriated mitten imagery for new web-based winter promotion of its mitten-shaped state. And that has made mavens of mitten-shaped Michigan — well, mightily miffed. The result is a frosty contretemps between pillars of the Upper Midwest that is only likely to get more icy.

You see, Michiganders clearly own the historical and traditional use of their right hands — with fingers straight up and together, they form a perfect mitten shape —when pointing out, usually with their left index fingers, where something is located in the state's Lower Peninsula.Continue reading...

Still reeling from the Jerry Sandusky child abuse case, Penn State officials and fans groaned last night as the university's disgraced former football coach was arrested on fresh charges (which his lawyer says he's denying) ... while clearly wearing a Penn State jacket with the Nittany Lions logo as police hauled him off to jail, where he remains this morning. Above, a few of the responses on Twitter as the news broke.

Old Spice kicked off day 2 of its social gift-giving holiday campaign with a video gift to the residents of Billings, Montana, who apparently can now check out a billboard thank you, too. W+K started marketing the return of Old Spice Man Isaiah Mustafa in earnest today, buying space on Yahoo (see below) and other highly trafficked websites.Continue reading...

The Philadelphia 76ers last visited the NBA Finals in 2000 and won the whole thing in 1983, but there hasn’t been a lot of Brotherly Love for the Sixers in recent years as the team has either not made the playoffs at all or lost in the first round since 2003.

But now the team has new ownership, a new hope as the season is getting set to begin on Dec. 25, and a new mascot that will debut early in the year. That last one, actually, hasn’t been decided on just yet — so the team is asking fans to help determine the next face of the franchise will be, according to CSNPhilly. After all, whether it is Big Ben, B. Franklin Dogg, or Phil E. Moose, it will likely be around long after everybody on the current roster is gone.

The last mascot the Sixers had, a rabbit named Hip Hop, spent most of its time strutting around and doing crazy dunks off of trampolines. Last month, he was bounced out after fans told the new ownership that he had to go. So now the team is trying to figure out whether it wants a mascot in the form of Benjamin Franklin, a dog, or, oddly, a moose.Continue reading...