As a conversation starter, the city of Flint’s newly debuted mascot Flinny the Fox certainly got people talking – a Facebook reel featuring Flinny earlier this spring had more than 42,000 views and nearly 200 comments.
Part of the intent, according to Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley, behind creating Flinny was to simply have a vehicle to make local government more fun and approachable for kids and families.
“ We’re so excited about having a mascot for our community, to be able to get people engaged in a positive mind space,” Neeley said. “For our children, they need an onboarding ramp to be able to communicate with municipal government and others in that space. We want our next generation to build a positive citizenship in our community.”
Flinny as a Stress Relief Tool
Flinny has gained social media attention through the animated reels posted on Flint’s Facebook and Instagram pages this spring, but the fox itself has actually been used in various capacities for several months. Most commonly, Flinny has been associated with law enforcement and the fire department. Having stuffed animals available is common practice for first responders across the country as a way to relieve anxiety, pain, or fear that kids may be experiencing during accidents or other stressful situations. Flinny has served that role in Flint.
“The stuffed animals that we have were already a part of what we use as comfort tools for police and fire officers as they approach scenes,” Neeley said. “They give them out to kids to be able to build a level of trust.”
Event Appearances
A Flinny suit made its debut at an Earth Day event with Flint Community Schools and the Flint River Watershed Coalition on April 22. Flinny has also made an appearance on ABC 12. Neeley said that residents can expect to see the character at multiple events this summer.
“He’s gonna be doing many different things for our festivals, at Juneteenth, Fourth of July, Back to the Bricks, the Crim,” Neeley said. “Flinny’s gonna be fully engaged.”
Neeley said that Flinny’s appearances are based on availability of volunteers who wear the suit, but they do plan to have a mechanism in the future for people to request appearances at other events.
Similar Characters and Messages
The inspiration for the character comes from other civic-oriented mascots. Neeley mentioned Smokey Bear, who has warned generations of kids about the dangers of fire, McGruff the Crime Dog, who advocates for crime prevention and safety, and Woody the Owl, who teaches about pollution and keeping the environment clean. Some of the messaging Flinny has used has focused on blight and picking up litter, and Neeley said the intent is to use the character to help teach kids about civic engagement and taking care of the community.
“This isn’t a new or unique idea because we’ve seen it before with other characters who try to communicate positive messaging to young people,” Neeley said. “We all have the obligation to push forward with positive messaging, so Flinny is our connection to young people, that’s why we have Flinny.”
Why a Fox?
There isn’t a particular significance to why a fox was chosen to represent Flint, other than the character is unique – Neeley didn’t want the mascot to be a dog, a bear, or an owl since there were already famous versions of those animals.
“We wanted to be unique in that space,” he said.
Foxes aren’t exactly common in Flint, but some do live here. Applewood has had fox sightings on their grounds, and foxes have occasionally been spotted at Max Brandon Park and in a few secluded areas along the Flint River in the past.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
One controversial aspect of the conversation around Flinny online is specific to the animated version that includes graphics, dialogue, and a short jingle. Neeley confirmed that those were created in-house using A.I.
Several commenters on the posts had pointed out that the videos seemed to be A.I.-generated, and were critical of that choice. Some cited the city’s thriving creative scene and suggested Flint pay a local artist to come up with the concept. Others were critical from an environmental perspective, as A.I. technology is controversial because of its negative impact on energy and water consumption.
Neeley’s reasoning for using A.I. is to keep the project low-cost.
“It is A.I. generated for the animated portion,” Neeley said. “The Flinny suit was bought for less than a couple hundred dollars, and the personnel that we use inside of it (the suit) are volunteers. We wanted this to be something that is cost-effective and not overtaxing to residents.”
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