Huddle with Hubert

Black and white illustration of a lion head wearing a football helmet over black text on a white background.

Hubert the Lion is a marketing character that was created for Harris Bank by the Leo Burnett advertising agency in 1958. Like a lion, Hubert was meant to represent what the bank wanted to be known for; per bank VP Mary Ullrich, “dignity, importance, strength, everything that we wanted to stand for except warmth and friendliness.” Hubert was originally a stuffed animal given out as a premium for attracting customers and became one of the more popular bank premiums in history.