Do people really love advertising mascots?

It’s tempting to dismiss the Procession of Ad Icons, held on Friday as part of Advertising Week, as a deluded exercise. People don’t really love these characters, do they? At best, they put up with them. Still, once in a while you come across someone who obsesses over them. One example: Mascot Stalker, who’s working on a good collection of pics of herself with famous mascots. She’s reaching out to the mascot community (“If you are a mascot wishing to arrange a rendezvous, please send an email with the details of your seasonal habits, work routines and daily schedule to: liz at mascotstalker dot com”) but for some reason has some ingrained prejudices (“Inflatable mascots need not apply”).