Sometimes I need a ridiculous project to maintain my sanity.
This is that project.
For the past year or so, a colleague and I have been brainstorming and developing a secret campaign to examine just what happened to Primo the Peacock after his short reign as Weber State's mascot 40 years ago. While much of the details are still in the works, we created a podcast to get the ball rolling.
During the 1979-80 academic year, Weber State put Waldo the Wildcat on a short sabbatical. In his absence, a new mascot was introduced during one of the basketball games. During half time, a giant box addressed from The Chicken from San Diego was opened and revealed a full-size, purple-feathered peacock, named Primo.
Primo was unlike Waldo in several ways, he had a more disruptive attitude and pulled pranks on top of pumping up the crowd. He was met with mixed reviews. He was the lone mascot for three months before the new and improved Waldo returned to get the crowd pumped for Weber State athletics. Primo only lasted a few more months as Waldo’s sidekick and then virtually disappeared without a trace.
We uncover evidence through photos, old documents from the University Archives, and interviews with past and current employees to try to discover where Primo came from and where he has been for the past 40 years. The campaign is intended to be unofficial, underground, and a little on the conspiracy theory side. Keep an eye out Fall 2019, feathers will be ruffled.