Friendly Characters

Friendly characters give kids a happy feeling because they are like the nice, friendly side of their parents. These characters give a sense of being safe and happy. A good reason to have a character like this is to create a logo-like image. Whenever you see that image, hopefully a nice one, the viewer will associate the product or site they are advertising to the image and remember it later. (Advertisers leave you with a good experience with their product).

For example. As a character for Sports Illustrated for Kids, they might have a fit, young kid. This lets kids identify with him. If they had a big kid, it wouldn't make any sense, because he might not be as good at sports (Note: this is a stereotype. Not every big person is bad at sports, and not every fit kid is good at sports. No offense intended).

Here are a few examples: