The United States Rubber Company, now Uniroyal [yes, the tire guys], had invented a synthetic fabric that they trademarked “Naugahyde”. It was a leather substitute which consisted of a layer of PVC backed by a layer of knit fabric, which helped the plastic reduce tearing. It was marketed as an upholstery fabric and in the 1960s the company invented a creature to help sell this fabric. That creature was the Nauga.

This “so ugly it’s cute” creature was given away as a promotional item at trade shows and to consumers, and is still available from the Uniroyal Corp to this day. Vintage Nauga have become collector’s items, some going for hundreds of dollars on ebay.

This kind of advertising makes me wonder what other industrial products could be marketed using cutesy characters. Click here to see some of the awful ideas I had.