4 Funny Health Care Industry Mascots You Won't Believe Exist

What do schools, sports teams and insurance companies all have in common? Mascots.

Costumed mascots are commonplace, becoming goodwill ambassadors or the “face” of whichever team, company or organization they are representing.

The health care industry is no stranger to assigning mascots to embrace and spread their message, but some are a little over the top.

Here are the four funniest, strangest and all around unbelievable mascots being used in the health care industry.

1. Petey P. Cup

The official spokescup for Minnesota’s HealthPartners.com, Petey is a larger-than-life specimen jar promoting urinalysis. He has a personal profile page on the health provider’s site, listing his biggest challenges as fitting in a car and avoiding the paparazzi while his hobbies consist of “chilling at the clinic or watching TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and ER.”

2. Captain Cutaneum

Arizona  dermatologist Ruskin R Lines, III, M.D. created Captain Cutaneum back in 2006 to spread awareness among children of skin health and the dangers of excessive sun exposure. The hero is covered from head to toe and sports a large blue hat, defending himself from sun’s evil rays.

3. Billy the Kidney

The Indiana branch of the National Kidney Foundation conceived Billy the Kidney to promote kidney-related diseases at health fairs, walks and birthday parties. In fact, according to MentalFloss, anyone interested in promoting kidney awareness can rent out the costume so long as they are over 13-years-old and promise not to talk or run while wearing the costume.

4. Mr. Testicles

We saved the best for last. This mascot is too good to be true, but we’re not making this up. The Male Cancer Awareness Campaign in the UK is working hard to raise awareness and funding for male-specific cancers and their mascot might just be the solution to draw attention. The group is behind other characters addressing serious subjects such as the Near Naked Man, promoting that talking to a doctor about bodily functions should not be embarrassing.

The organization is currently raising money on Indiegogo to build a hot air balloon shaped like a giant pair of testicles, dubbed Skyballs, which the group says will be the “world’s biggest cancer awareness tool.”