How Yamer won a contest, a job, and the love of fandom by smuggling furry into the mainstream.
by Patch O'Furr
The dealership I went to and got a car has a mascot...and a suit too for said mascot...I am not the smartest....but I think the person is a furry pic.twitter.com/3qGPnHFLCr
— ThatRedDragon (@YukaiDragon) January 4, 2019
A Mazda dealership in Fort Wayne, IN, set a trap. Their mascot is a cute sheep-thing… but he isn’t just an ordinary mascot like the Carfax Car Fox. This one has the secret power to set off your Fur-dar. Look at those cute eyes… how can you resist them?
Those susceptible to his gaze can tell he was crafted by furry paws, even if he was smuggled out of fandom under cover of an ordinary ad campaign. I’d say the difference from other mascots is he isn’t just a general character… he’s a fursona! Leinado is his name, and he was chosen by an art contest in 2013. He’s been spreading the magic to the public ever since.
In January 2019, the trap sprung on a furry who was just there for ordinary car repair. Sharing the discovery “in the wild” won thousands of likes for Leinado on Twitter. With fur-dar tingling, furries began sniffing around the company website to trace his origin. They found the designer, and then she was revealed as a wielder of furry art magic under the name Yamer.