This team is not bacon down.
A Minnesota minor league baseball club decided to keep its cheeky name for its pig mascot, despite public outcry that it’s a form of fat shaming.
Not everyone thought it was funny when the St. Paul Saints — known for their outrageous promotions — decided to name their adorable piglet “Ozempig” after the immensely popular weight loss drug.
The AAA team even created a whole backstory on its social media pages about how the pig had become embarrassed by its recent weight gain and is looking to shed the pounds.
The backlash was almost immediate after the Saints announced the pig’s name ahead of Saturday’s opening day game, as angry critics slammed the moniker as painful and insensitive.
Team officials were shocked when some people found the name offensive.
“In today’s world, people don’t want to be diminished, they don’t want to be made to feel a certain way and I’m not going to tell them how they feel is wrong,” said Sean Aronson, the Saints’ vice president and media relations director.
“But I can tell you there was no ill-intent, there was no maliciousness, there was never even a discussion in the room when we were going over the name that hey, this may offend some people,” he added.
“Ozempig” was chosen from a list of nearly 2,300 entries the team received as part of the Saints’ “Name the Pig Contest.” Aronson said the team was simply looking for a fun name.
Despite the outrage, Aronson said there’s no plan to change the name.
“We knew how we originally came up with the name and we’re good with it but we did discuss it and decided we’re going to keep it,” he said.
Ozempic is the most popular of several new expensive drugs people are taking to help lose weight. The drug, initially intended to treat type 2 diabetes, costs as much as $1,300 per month.
Weight loss drugs have quickly gained traction over the last year among beauty-chasers and celebrities.
The Saints’ pig is a fan favorite during the minor team’s games at CHS Field in downtown St. Paul, about 10 miles from its Major League affiliate, the Minnesota Twins, in Minneapolis.
The piglet brings baseballs out to the umpire and, over the course of the summer, gets noticeably bigger — and fatter — to the point that another young pig takes over halfway through the season.
With Post wires
