...And Then There's Murph

Meet NERF's first official mascot 

This thing was first introduced in the summer of last year, now let's take a closer look at NERF's new representative...

Murph is an adult size, non-speaking, anthropomorphic character made up of 10,000 darts according to NERF's Tic Toc channel. Murph has no facial features, really no features at all, and is said to have no set sex or gender and uses they/them pronouns. 

Hasbro's SVP and GM, Adam Kleinman, calls Murph a “playful spirit and gifted athlete. We wanted to introduce a mascot that represents this ageless, unbridled fun that lives in all of us and creates a physical embodiment of that feeling you get when you play with Nerf."

Personally l think Murph looks a little like some sort of Space Yeti creature from  the original Star Trek, Space 1999, or Lost in Space. Maybe a bizarre cross between a sea urchin and a wookiee? 

Along with Murph comes the new catchphrase "Unleash the Play in You". This replaces long-time, personal favorite of mine, slogan "It's Nerf or NOTHIN".

Murph's behavior during a Hasbro Pulse livestream show on YouTube was also questionable if not disruptive.  As soon as the new mascot was introduced, Murph immediately handed a paper with a different introduction. Then, only a few minutes in the show, Murph stood up and left... while they were still live! After some backstage antics, Murph was brought back to the set, only to throw a pie at show host Sophie Lightning's face.

The internet has used the words ""nightmarish" and "horrifying"  to describe Murph, and I have to agree. If I were a little kid and I saw this thing coming at me, I'd  be scared out of my mind!

 From the way it looks, to the way I've seen it behave, to the new slogan... I just don't like it. Maybe time will change that, or maybe NERF will go with a different add campaign. What do you think?

NERF on NERFerS!!!