Trump Chicken

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Trump Chicken
Tax March April 15, 2017, U.S. Capitol (33933859081).jpg
The balloon outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. during the 2017 Tax March
ArtistCasey Latiolais
Completion dateDecember 2016
MediumPlastic inflatable
Subject Donald Trump
Dimensions7.0 m(23 ft)
Website thetrumpchicken.org

Trump Chicken was a Chinese New Year mascot for the Year of the Rooster. It unexpectedly became popular because it looked similar to Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States. In the United States, Trump Chicken was often used as a cartoon image reflecting Trump. It is used by both Trump's opponents and supporters. It was designed by Seattle-based illustrator Casey Latiolais. [1]

Contents

Appearance

Trump Chicken is a fat, white chicken with a human-like face. It had golden feet, eyebrows, and a beak. There was no cockscomb on the top of its head, instead having golden hair, with the left side of the hair subtly raised. The underside of the beak is a red, tie-shaped fleshy crest. The two wings looked closer to the human hands and are raised high to the sides. The difference is that the thumb and index finger of the "left hand" are clasped into a circle, making it an OK gesture; while the right hand extends the index finger and points to the sky. [2]

Donald Trump in 2017 Donald Trump Pentagon 2017.jpg
Donald Trump in 2017

Background

The origin of the mascot, named the "Trump Rooster" statue by the media, was a 23-foot-tall New Year mascot displayed outside the North America Xintiandi Shopping Center in Taiyuan, China, in late December 2016. [3] The over of the mall said that the original design idea was to have the mascot make the "number one" (generally being understood as pointing to the sky) and "OK" gestures to represent business success and good luck. The facial features referred to the images in Angry Birds. [4] When the mascot was put on display, it was quickly discovered that he resembled Donald Trump. After it became popular on Weibo, many people even went to the exhibition site to take photos. [5] The shopping mall noticed this trend and took the opportunity to launch products related to this mascot, such as inflatable toys, dolls and other types of souvenirs. [6] In March 2017, the mascot was spread to the United States. After some anti-Trump activists noticed it on the Internet, they thought the mascot looked very similar to Trump, so they purchased a large number of related dolls and inflatable toys from China and used them in the anti-Trump protests in San Francisco in April. [7] The mascot, known as the "Trump Chicken", became popular in the United States. Various Trump Chicken memorabilia was sold on Amazon and eBay. [8]

The designer of Trump Chicken, Casey Latiolais, was surprised by the popularity of the mascot. He said he merely accepted a design order from a Chinese real estate developer and completed it, and did not consider using the design to satirize Trump, and that any similarities with Trump were coincidences. [7] He also said that he consulted his family about the design and received approval — including his parents, who voted for Trump in the 2016 election. [3]

Usage in the public

Similar designs

See also

References

  1. Cascone, Sarah (January 4, 2017). "Donald Trump Rooster Sculpture Ushers in Chinese New Year". Artnet News. Archived from the original on January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  2. Jiang, Xihao; Sun, Thomas; Campbell, Joseph (January 12, 2017). "It's the Year of the (Giant Inflatable Trump) Rooster at one Chinese factory". Reuters. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Ives, Mike (December 29, 2016). "China Warmly Welcomes a Giant Rooster With Trumpian Characteristics" . The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  4. 山西太原现巨型“特朗普鸡”雕塑 发型手势神似 [A giant "Trump Chicken" sculpture appears in Taiyuan, Shanxi, with a similar hairstyle and gestures]. QQ News (in Chinese (China)). December 30, 2016. Archived from the original on December 31, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  5. Zhang, Tianrui (December 26, 2016). "'Trump-style' rooster figure welcomes Chinese New Year in Taiyuan (4)". People's Daily. Archived from the original on December 31, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  6. Serena, Dong (December 28, 2016). "Donald Trump rooster statue takes China by storm". Cable News Network. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  7. 1 2 Morton, Danelle (March 20, 2017). "The Trump Chicken Is Coming to America". Slate. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  8. Rossman, Sean (August 10, 2017). "That inflatable chicken that looks like Trump can be yours". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  9. Stevens, Matt (April 15, 2017). "The Tax March Explained: Protesters Hope to Pressure Trump Into Releasing Returns" . The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  10. Joseph, Yonette (August 10, 2017). "This Is Why a Trump Chicken Was Near the White House" . The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  11. "Activists inflate 10-foot Trump chicken outside Rohrabacher's office in Huntington Beach". Daily Pilot. September 9, 2017. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2017 via Los Angeles Times.
  12. Berky, Rad (September 19, 2017). "Inflatable chicken resembling Trump spotted outside Tillis' office". WCNC. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  13. Oppenheim, Maya (July 23, 2018). "'Trump Chicken' dressed as a prisoner to sail around San Francisco". The Independent. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  14. Voon, Claire (March 21, 2017). "Protesting the President with a "Trumpy the Rat" Inflatable". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
  15. Zhao, Kexin (December 26, 2017). 今年的“特朗普生肖”来了 [Here comes this year's "Trump Zodiac"]. Guancha (in Chinese (China)). Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.