The popular Florida-born grocery chain Publix has been around for nearly a century, with founder George Jenkins opening the first store in downtown Winter Haven.
Since then, the chain has gone through several changes, though a lesser-known feature of Publix is its mascot: Plato.
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“Plato the Publixaurus” was introduced over three decades ago via a coloring book dubbed “Fun with Food.”
According to Publix officials, the book showed Plato as a “good little dinosaur who learned about nutrition and exercise,” though other dinosaurs wouldn’t listen to his teachings.
Instead, Plato decided to share his teachings with children to show the benefits of physical activity and healthy eating.
“He went to sleep that night and woke up in the 20th century when construction workers building a new Publix store found him,” a release from the company explains. “Publix was impressed with Plato and asked him to be their spokesdinosaur.”
Plato made his official mascot debut at the company’s first Georgia store in Savannah when it opened in 1991, though he’s also made plenty of appearances at company events and other store openings.
The mascot’s origins stem back to Publix artist Warren Dossey, who was tasked with designing a character to appeal to children. Dossey worked on sketches for two characters that could represent Publix — a farmer and a dinosaur.
“Farmers have an obvious tie to Publix,” the release reads. “But in the end, the dinosaur was selected to represent education, nutrition and environmental awareness.”
As for the dinosaur’s name?
“We thought he needed a real name, rather than just Publixaurus,” Warren said. “I named him Plato, and it seemed to work.”
Afterward, Publix ad layout artist Stacy Smith took over, leading to Plato’s status as the grocery chain’s chief mascot.