[Monkeydad]

https://nypost.com/2018/12/06/inside...isherman-logo/

It was all Billy Joel’s fault.

In 1995, the New York Islanders decided to freshen the team’s look by introducing a new logo, jersey and mascot. The decision eventually turned into one of the biggest sports marketing disasters of all time and a debacle that still rankles local hockey fans decades later.

A designer eventually created an image of an older, bearded man in a rain slicker and oilskin hat holding a hockey stick.

The team rushed to unveil the new look to the public, but failed to do any focus-group research.

“If you would have thrown that image out to a group of kindergartners, they would have said this is the Gorton’s fisherman,” Hirshon says.

The new jerseys debuted in the 1995-96 season, and fans and detractors alike immediately noticed the resemblance to the frozen-food icon. One dismayed supporter hoisted a banner at the Coliseum reading, “Fish sticks are for dinner, not our logo.”

Enlarge ImageThe logo was compared to the Gorton's Fisherman (left).
The new logo (right) was compared to the Gorton’s Fisherman (left).New York Islanders
The Islanders also introduced a new mascot. Nyisles (pronounced “Niles”) was a 7-foot fisherman caricature with a 15-pound plastic head and a red flashing light atop his head. He fell as flat as a flounder.

Fans booed him at his debut, and one 10-year-old boy was quoted as saying, “I’d like to assassinate him. I think he’s stupid.”

Rob Di Fiore, the man inside the costume, who was paid $75 per game, was subjected to endless abuse. At one game, a young boy punched him and kicked him in the groin.

An angry Di Fiore changed into street clothes and later found the boy in the stands. He bent down and whispered in the child’s ear, “I know who you are.” The kid never bothered him again.

The disastrous marketing moves were not helped by the team’s performance. The Islanders finished in the division cellar.

Fan reaction to the logo change continued to be just as hideous. The team’s management caved to the pressure and was ready to change back by the end of the season. But the NHL, worried that retailers would be stuck with an unsellable product, made the team keep the fisherman around for a second season.

Although the reaction to the jersey change was overwhelmingly negative, the shift actually had helped sales.

The Islanders sold some 10,000 fisherman jerseys in the 1996-97 season and moved up to 17th in overall NHL apparel sales.

But the fisherman was soon drowned for good. The NHL gave the Islanders permission to wear their original jerseys for up to 15 home games in the 1996-97 season before abandoning the revamped look entirely the following year.

“It was clear that this logo brought out such strong feelings, that they wanted to move past it as quickly as they could,” Hirshon says.

“For years, it was whitewashed. There would be no merchandise available. You’d go around the arena and there wouldn’t be any photos of players wearing the jersey. There was nothing.”

One of the main lessons from the disaster was about timing.

“You really want to rebrand when you have a winning team,” Hirshon says. “It’s not a Band-Aid to cover up when you’re losing. Fans will see right through that.”

That and never turn to Billy Joel for marketing advice.