10 Ad Mascots You Probably Didn't Know Were Related to Kermit the Frog

The many commercial creations of Jim Henson's Creature Studio

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Jim Henson creations have a storied history in advertising, going back to the 1950s, when a violent proto-Kermit pitched Wilkins Coffee with 10-second TV spots.

Tappy, the latest creation from Jim Henson's Creature Studio, is similarly off-kilter in his role as a living credit-card reader at a checkout counter. 

Tappy is the new voice of Softcard, an e-payment product that works at McDonald's and other major chains that now accept phone swipes as currency. Softcard needed a new mascot and some rebranding after changing its name from Isis, an unfortunate name since being co-opted by the infamous terror state.

Tappy is a bit out there as a concept, turning a boring inanimate object into a somewhat obnoxious little critter, but that's what the Henson team has done for decades, building characters for brands to support their more artful Muppet projects.

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