Frankie Focus, Attention-Grabber

"Frankie Focus is the official mascot of a recent state policy, spearheaded by Governor Kathy Hochul, that bans smartphones and other "internet-enabled devices" from schools. (Identifying as "New York's first Mom Governor," Hochul has said, "I know our young people succeed when they're learning and growing, not clicking and scrolling.")"

"Frankie has become a kind of surrogate (a "spokesthing," one aide tried out on a reporter) for the Governor on the issue. He can't recite talking points, as he does not speak, but he can attend local events, like school spelling bees, that don't fit on Hochul's calendar."

""There's a lot else going on in New York and the country right now," Sam Spokony, a strategist who works for the Governor, said in a phone call. His team had been looking for a cheap, easy way to keep the device ban in the news. Hochul encouraged her staff to be "as dynamic as possible" in dreaming up a P.R. stunt."

Governor Kathy Hochul implemented a state policy banning smartphones and internet-enabled devices from New York schools. To promote this initiative, her administration created Frankie Focus, an official mascot featuring chartreuse fur, flesh-colored ears, and orange eyebrows. The mascot attends school events like spelling bees that the Governor cannot personally visit. Hochul's strategist Sam Spokony explained the team sought an inexpensive, attention-grabbing public relations approach to maintain media coverage of the device ban. The Governor encouraged her staff to develop dynamic promotional stunts, viewing the mascot as a creative way to communicate the policy's message about reducing screen time and improving student learning.

Read at The New Yorker