Is That A Penguin? The Truth About Our Brand Logo

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Is That A Penguin? The Truth About Our Brand Logo

22 October, 2021

Few people know this about our IRVINS ubiquitous brand mascot, but he is actually a duck egg named Irv! (Salted duck eggs are traditionally made by coating the egg in a thick charcoal paste - so little known fact: Irv is a charcoal-covered duck egg). In fact, all our characters represent raw materials that are ingredients in our snacks. Those other flavor mascots include: “Gaga” - fish, “Chan” - cassava, “Ut” - potato chip and “Bul” - potato. Irv also has a salted duck egg girlfriend named “Irvette”.



Where did the inspiration for Irv come from?
The family of the characters are named after our real life company founding members, with Irv representing our founder, Irvin.
In fact, Irv actually looks a lot like Irvin (if you squint your eyes!) We use real duck eggs in our original Salted Egg snacks, so we wanted to celebrate our duck egg origins and bring a character to life that embodies the great duck egg; Irv!


How did Irv get his name?
IRVINS Salted Egg originated as a snack made from the restaurant ‘Irvin's Live Seafood House.’ As our snacks gained popularity, our brand grew into ‘Irvins Salted Egg’. We began branching into additional flavors beyond just Salted Egg, so we renamed the brand as simply ‘IRVINS’ in 2020.
When we were thinking of the mascot name, it felt right to call him Irv to name him after our founder, Irvin Gunawan.

How old is Irv?
The concept of Irv was created in 2016, and made his debut to the world in 2017!



How long did it take to create Irv?
Irv and the whole rebranding took many months of creative brainstorming with our designer. Our goal was to create characters that aligned with our brand and represented our flavors, personalities, and uniqueness!


Who are Irv’s friends?
The friends form the gang who make these dangerously addictive products.

Gaga the fish is based on our team member, Gaga. Gaga has been the longest-tenured employee in IRVINS history!
Bul the potato is based on Ivan, our CFO. He wears sunglasses, loves playing poker and loves to snack - just like Ivan in real life.
Chan the cassava - is based on our COO, founder Ircahn.
Ut the fried potato chip is based on Utari, a former team member.
Keke the potato is based on our COO Ircahn’s wife, Keshia. Keke is very helpful and willing to support anything - the same way Keshia helped build the company with our founders.

This gang works together in an underground facility to create these dangerously addictive snacks that's been popping up citywide.
We had a cartoon made just to depict this, it was only a few pages long.

Any fun facts about Irv?
Many people think Irv is a penguin, but he is actually a duck egg looking committed to sharing his gospel of delicious snacks with the world.
In fact, he just wants world domination and a chance to share IRVINS with everyone!

Does Irv have his own merch or will he have merch soon?
We used to sell Irv plushies to customers and we’re planning to revive it due to customer demand. Irv also used to have his very own t-shirt which had Irv's face in front. We’d love to hear if anyone has any special requests!



How does Irv feel about being the face of IRVINS?
To be honest, we're not too sure. You can't really guess what he's thinking because he has a very neutral poker face.