Fly Eagles? Fly Dogs! How Social Media Changed A Mascot

The Eagles WON the Super Bowl.  Social Media is abuzz with burning questions regarding the team mascot:  Is it a bird?  Is it a German Shepherd? Or a is it a Belgian Malinois?

Some fans may have been puzzled that the Eagles, whose mascot, by the way IS an Eagle, were wearing dog masks.  Most of the masks were a shepherd type dog with dark muzzle, but some creative types posted their masks of other breeds as their spirit moved them!

The “underdogs” motif may not be officially Sanctioned, however they are proving popular with fans.  What’s more fun than a graphic of a fierce dog/man who’s “gotta eat”, “gotta be trusted” or who can fly?  Variations of the dog/bird/man can be found and purchased on street corners, on popular websites like Amazon, EBay and Etsy.  Variants of the Eagles logo with a dog head are also popular.

Whether they are officially licensed or not (mostly not) the burning question in my mind is whether this dog tracks it’s lineage to the German Shepherd dog, a very popular and recognized breed, or whether it’s the Belgian Shepherd or Belgian Malinois, a breed that has gained popularity and favor with law enforcement and which has been glamorized recently in movies and television shows.

It’s easy to be confused or to mistake one for another.  In fact, there are many crosses that are being touted as one or the other, but it takes an astute observer of the breed standard to discern which breed is predominant.

So I did a scientific analysis of the “underdog” mask.  By scientific, I mean that I asked my friends who are dog breeders and have been involved with the breeds for many years what type of dog the mask represents.   My Belgian Malinois friends all say the mask is a “really bad German Shepherd”.   With this in mind, I asked my German Shepherd breeding friends, and their collective response was “We are not sure”.

So, considering that most people would not recognize a Belgian Malinois, and most would certainly recognize a German Shepherd or Shepherd Mix,  I am going to concur with the masses, that this must be a German Shepherd.

Interesting side note, the mask, which was produced originally by a Chinese Company who had NO idea about the impending popularity, was sold out in one day on Amazon.  All 230 of the CreepyParty “German Shepherd” masks were sold out in one morning.   The owners of the company, Jason Lee had no idea what happened, and to his amazement, discovered that the sell out was due to the Eagles win over Atlanta in the playoffs, and two Eagles players, Lane Johnson and Chris Long, celebrated by donning the masks and embracing the role of “underdogs”.  The rest was a social media firestorm, and adoption of the German Shepherd mask as a rallying cry to Eagles Fans everywhere.

So, don’t despair, Eagles fans… we are NOT losing an Eagle, we are gaining a German Shepherd as a mascot.

Congratulations #Eagles!  #FlyDogs#Fly