The Mean Tomato launched earlier this year, giving us a cheeky mascot and branding, that brought a real attitude to the world of pizza delivery.
Exclusively available through the GoPuff delivery service, the pizza company wanted to bring something different to the already overflowing river of pizza delivery choices available across the globe.
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Now, as you can see from the branding above, when we are talking about attitude it’s mainly from the tomato mascot (whom we have a lot more to say about), however, the overall brand identity is clear from the outset with its aim to bring an air of coolness, and a 90’s New York vibe, particularly with the pizza box and menu design.
The company have managed to create a tone of voice that is full of humour and pizza puns, but have also gone a little bit further with some extra sass from their mascot.
So, let’s dive deeper into this rebrand.
Credit to Under Consideration
The Mascot
For us, the brand’s mascot is without a doubt the most exciting part of this rebrand, as they have managed to create a character that is as equally full of himself, as he is lovable.
Although he may not have a name, the little guy is cheeky, with his spiky green tomato leaf hair, subtle smirk, and crooked brow. His personality shines through even before he gets up to any mischief.
The tomato bully is shown in a variety of poses, including stuffing his face with pizza, scribbling all over the company logo and branding images, and stamping on tomatoes, so we really get a feel for how mischievous this tomato can really be.
Illustrated by Dan Woodger, the tomato mascot equally demonstrates the importance of brand design, as this little guy is a complete contrast to the more friendly characters we see everyday, and his cheeky attitude is what stamps the company name into our memory.
This mascot is equally a great tool for adding authenticity to the branding, as he is less of an active supporter, and more like an active hater of the brand, providing a contrast as if to say, cut all the nonsense and just order a pizza!
The mascot is essentially saying what the consumer is thinking and getting on their level, therefore delivering some much needed realness, as well as pizza.
Credit to Under Consideration
Contrasting Typeface
The pairing of two different typefaces for this branding is really effective, as the harsher red ‘graffiti’ style lettering pops when layered on top of the lighter, squishy typeface.
Which happens quite often thanks to the mischievous mascot.
For this rebrand, the company used a custom typeface ‘Deep Pan Sans’ for the main wordmark, which perfectly represents the gooey, doughy pizza that’s up for grabs. This works well to represent the company as a whole, embodying the brands warmth, positivity, and deliciousness.
But this doesn’t quite represent the personality of the tomato.
Instead, The Mean Tomato was given his own typeface ‘Sandwich Marker’, which is used to represent the careless, messy handwriting of the tomato, which he uses to vandalise the company’s branding images.
The two fonts together provide the perfect contrast to one another, and represent the two different voices: the company, and the mean (but still lovable!) tomato.
Credit to Under Consideration
Voice and Visuals
The tone of voice and visuals for this branding are just the right amount of cheeky to be able to get away with it.
The cheeky personality of the mean tomato ends up creating a sense of coolness for the brand rather than offending consumers, and instead leaves us feeling like we want to be part of his crew.
The colouring is also solid, as the base colours consisting of white, green, and red, are of course a nod to the Italian flag, and colours true to the classic New York pizza place.
But without the tomato mascot this branding could be lacking in character.
So, including visuals such as the mascot licking a pizza slice before putting it back in the box, and writing ‘bite me’ on the menu was essential to make this brand stand out.
He even makes the more general brand photography pop, as he is included causing more mischief, squirting hot sauce on someones pizza slice, and vandalising the pizza boxes before delivery.
The blending of photography and the cartoon tomato mascot makes this brand more fun, and the humour appeals to all audiences which is great, because who doesn’t love pizza?
Pizza With Attitude: The Mean Tomato Rebrand Explored
So, there we have it, our take on The Mean Tomato rebrand.
It’s clear that the mascot means everything for this rebranding, and we believe that the company has made a bold, but successful decision in making the cheeky tomato character central to their brand identity.
The custom Deep Pan Sans was a particularly great addition to the rebrand, as it provided the tomato mascot with the perfect soft, doughy canvas to vandalise, and the classic colouring avoided over-complication for sure!
We believe that The Mean Tomato mascot has potential to pull consumers away from the mainstream pizza delivery services, as let’s face it he’s so cool we already have fear of missing out on a taste of his pizza.
What do you think about The Mean Tomato rebrand? Do you think the mascot makes it a success, or is the typeface contrast the element you enjoy the most? Get in touch and let us know what you think.
