Trump Chicken | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Artist | Casey Latiolais |
Completion date | December 2016 |
Medium | Plastic inflatable |
Subject | Donald Trump |
Dimensions | 7.0 m(23 ft) |
Website | thetrumpchicken |
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]
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]
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]