As the coaster season is already underway and theme parks begin their heavy marketing and promotions, don’t expect to see that creepy, old geezer dancing to techno. And, if you happen to live in New England, you may notice a coaster mysteriously change names.
Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, who recently took over control of Six Flags, has decided to axe the Mr. Six character and his popular, but ineffective ads. They feel that the commericals appeal more to teenagers. In the future Snyder and his partners would like to focus their advertising on families. They’ve wasted no time. I’ve already seen commercials for my local Six Flags promoting the “Brunch with Bugs” and daily parades with comic super heroes. To further distance the park from this weird, old guy the family coaster that opened in 2005, dubbed ‘Mr. Six’s Pandemonium’ at Six Flags New England, has been re-named ‘Pandemonium’.
Regardless of the efforts made by petitions to Save Mr. Six, the old man and that horrible Venga Boys song are gone for good. I won’t miss him, and as a marketing major, I always wondered what the point was with those commercials. It got Six Flags some attention, but I don’t think it did anything for their attendance.