For decades, a frog has been Fidelity’s unofficial mascot – but why a frog? In the 1970s, the stock market was heading down, and assets were declining because few investors were buying stocks or stock funds.
Things were getting desperate and then something called FDIT came along
The Fidelity Daily Income Trust (FDIT) was launched and for the first time Fidelity marketed directly to investors using direct response advertising by phone and in national papers. While not the first money market fund available, FDIT added a unique feature that was unheard of at the time – check-writing.
The fund used the acronym FDIT, which sounded, at least to us, like “Ribbit” and thus, FDIT the frog was born. FDIT’s marketing featured a cartoon frog in many of its advertisements, becoming a symbol of Fidelity’s spirit of innovation, customer focus and smart risk-taking.
Today, we see the Fidelity frog as a mascot and you’ll see from time to time at various Fidelity regional centers and on @FidelityJobs social media. “Honestly, it’s nice to hear about the frog’s backstory because it isn’t often talked about. I think regardless of anything you do in life, whether it be personally or professionally, you need to find enjoyment in it all. During a critical time, Fidelity not only introduced check-writing but FDIT to bring light to a bad time. Now he lives on as a periodic reminder to take a breath and smile.”
*Couchella is an annual, internal, week-long series of speakers and events designed to push Fidelity associates to explore, challenge, and reinvent how we look at our business, customers, talent, and competitive landscape.
**Golden Froggie awards are for internal employees who make outstanding contributions in four categories: Impact, Prioritization, Collaboration and Innovation.
