Cute or cruel? Team's 'Ozempig' mascot draws divided response as St. Paul Saints double down

Some St. Paul Saints fans think that the minor league baseball team has dropped the ball, expressing frustration online over the team naming its latest pig mascot after Ozempic, a well-known weight loss drug. 

The naming of this pig, as well as about 30 other pigs, has been a Saints tradition since 1993. 

The team has made a pretty contentious choice this year, naming the babe that will fetch baseballs for the umpire for the first part of the season “Ozempig.” 

“One pig, however, stood out above all the rest promising to change the way pigs are viewed by the rest of the world,” according to a March 25 announcement. 

"He promises to spend the first half of the season in the best shape possible, curb the five to seven pounds of food he eats in a day, and bring a positive light to his name as the Saints unveil their 2024 ballpig … OzemPig.” 

Derek Sharrer, the St. Paul Saints executive president and general manager, told USA TODAY that the practice is a time-honored tradition, one that the fans get to be a part of annually. 

Sharrer calls the ball-pig naming contest the ultimate “collaboration” with fans submitting names over the course of a month before selecting the best name out of the bunch.  The St. Paul Saints staff even gets in on the action, helping narrow down the best name every season. 

“We had over 2,300 suggestions this year. It's a collaboration that has been going on for years that we have a lot of fun with every year. We got some pretty amazing submissions,” Sharrer said. 

The St. Paul Saints have decided to keep the name for the first half of the season despite online criticism, saying that “we feel as though there might be an opportunity to work with organizations in the Twin Cities focusing on body image and mental health to spread awareness.” 

Here’s what we know.

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Fans who engaged with the announcement post online, both on Instagram and Facebook, are pretty split with some calling for the team to change the name altogether and others applauding the clever play on words. 

Carole Franson wrote in the comments that she was “not the least bit offended” by the name, saying “It's a play on words- Oh-Zem Pig! I'm a type II Diabetic, was prescribed Ozempic for a long time.” 

“As a former super fat guy, I approve wholeheartedly. Pigs are cool,” Gavin Wigg wrote. 

Maxine Mattingly Sheehan “loves the name,” writing “I don't understand the controversy because this is a good drug that helps people lose weight who otherwise cannot on their own. It's a cute play on a name and is not shaming anyone. Good for you for sticking with it!” 

The comment section under the Facebook post were largely filled with people who found the name amusing, writing anyone that expressed dissent was too sensitive. A number of folks on Instagram, on the other hand, called the move “mean-spirited” and “gross.” 

“Why be a bully when you could just be kind? That’s what I tell my kids I take to your games anyways. Change this or that won’t happen anymore,” Josh Anderson wrote. 

Others expressed a similar point of view, expressing disappointment with the Saints marketing team for approving such a “cruel” name. 

“Amazing to me that a group of 'creative' people can sit around a table and come up with something this unoriginal. Big yikes. We’ll wait for the renaming,” Hannah Gerber wrote.

Sydney Walsh asked the team in the comments if they were all “loving this engagement at the expense of fat people? did it do what you wanted it to? do you feel powerful & brave?”

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Mascot name will not be changed, there is an ‘opportunity to do something good’

Sharrer says that they “didn’t expect there to be a negative response” when the team chose the most topical name from the ones submitted. 

“We were surprised by the response, in that there has never been any intent to shame or bully or marginalize any one person or any group. And that has never been the case with any other name that we've ever picked."

The names picked over the years have been nothing more than a “lighthearted play on words.” Sharrer said he would describe it as a “joke with no punch line. And no target.”  Oftentimes, Sharrer says, they pick a name that is “timely” and related to “current events.” 

“You can't turn on your television without seeing an Ozempic commercial. It's definitely a name and  a product that's been in the news. And is definitely a part of current pop culture. So, it definitely fit the criteria.” 

The Saints have a picked a number of names over the years that fit the bill, naming piglets after actors i.e., Kevin Bacon or Alternative Fats, a play on a phrase coined by former presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway. 

The Saints have doubled down on the name despite the wave of criticism, hoping to “spread awareness” around self image and mental health. 

“We feel strongly about what the name is and what it isn't," Sharrer said. "The fact that there was any negative response at all is enough for us to see that that maybe there's an opportunity around this. We feel like there's an opportunity to be helpful." 

Sharrer says keeping the name “may have more of a positive impact than just changing the name and having the discussion go away.” 

“We host over half a million fans each season. We have hundreds, thousands more who follow us on social media … We didn't anticipate the discussion occurring but now that it has, we feel like there's an opportunity to do something good with it. And our hope is that we can find organizations in our community to partner with to help spread awareness about these issues.”