Today’s Daily Dig: Who is the Carrot Guy?

Discovering the root of Carrot Guy’s identity

By DOMENICA PELOSO — feautures@theaggie.org

From UC Davis’ Gunrock to UC Berkeley’s Oski, almost every college campus has a mascot. But amidst banana slugs, bruins and bobcats — one suited figure stands out among the rest. Namely, the neon orange Carrot Guy who has simultaneously captured the adoration, whimsy and utter confusion of 20 different California colleges. 

Carrot Guy stands out not only due to his general vegetable-ness, but because of his seemingly altruistic motives: to hand out free carrots and engage with students. 

“We have this sheet, and it's like our Carrot Bible,” Davis Carrot Guy No. 1, a first-year animal biology major, said. “It tells you the way Carrot Guy should be. He should be kind, courteous, but above all, he is supposed to be nonconfrontational.”

In fact, all 30 Carrot Guys are explicitly instructed to not be bothersome.

“That’s one of the most important things about Carrot Guy; he's not encouraging you to come talk to him,” Davis Carrot Guy No. 2, a first-year psychology major, said. “You're not coming up to people and you're not pushing. You're just Carrot Guy — it's not like the petitioners at the [Memorial Union].” 

Though Carrot Guy’s free produce and playful personality initially draws students in, often what keeps them lingering is the curious whiteboard he displays. On this board, there is an alluring selection of carrot-themed goodies, ranging from shot glasses to pens to keychains. 

The catch is, in order to “win” one of these tempting accoutraments, one must scan the provided QR code, download the Carrot app and answer the Daily Dig: a question-based prompt that changes every 24 hours. 

For example, the most liked prompt under the official @carrotguy account simply states: “Say something totally absurd.” 

In December of 2022, founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Carrot, James Tashjian, officially launched a prototype app to the students at UC Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California. After collecting feedback, Tashjian returned to UCLA, where a team of student engineers developed a market-ready app in December of 2024. 

The Carrot app is promoted as a healthy alternative to social media, prioritizing genuine connections over algorithms and advertisements. 

“We believe that questions and answers are the best way to dig deeper relationships,” Tashjian said. “The person asking the question is interested in learning more about someone else, and the person answering is revealing something about themself. So, that mutual vulnerability leads to better friendships.” 

That being said, it is no secret that platforms such as Reddit and Quora are already based on this same philosophy. So, what makes Carrot different? 

“The daily questions are curated to help someone express themself — to feel seen, to feel heard, to feel known,” Tashjian said. “But the problem with that is, we didn’t think anybody would do it. Nobody’s going to go around answering random questions, even if you tell them it’s good for friendship. That is, unless you pay them.”

Students who answer the Daily Dig are rewarded with Carrot Coins, which can be used to buy mystery prize boxes containing $100 Amazon gift cards, collectible GIFs, one month free of Carrot Plus and more. 

However, what most students do not recognize is the cryptocurrency aspect of Carrot Coins. 

  “It’s a real digital currency, so you can transfer them out of the app, swap them for U.S. dollars and cash out,” Tashjian said. “But very few students do that, because they’re not very into crypto. They think it’s weird, they think it’s for old people, they think it’s complicated and they’re just not into it. That being said, students think it’s a crypto app when it’s merely a feature. You can enjoy the app completely without any crypto at all.”

From a business standpoint, Tashjian’s endgame for Carrot is ultimately to solve the customer feedback loop problem via incentivization. 

“When you get off a Southwest flight, you get an email that says: ‘How was your flight on a scale from one to 10?’” Tashjian said. “Or, when you step out of a Bank of America, you receive an email that says, ‘How was your banking experience on a scale from one to 10?’ Nobody answers those emails. But, if Carrot had a sufficient enough user base, perhaps when Bank of America or Southwest sends you Carrot Coins alongside a customer review prompt, sure, I’ll tell you my flight had excellent leg room.”

With summer just around the corner, the Carrot app has plans for innovations: including an android-friendly version, an in-app merch store, an interactive mini game and plans to expand Carrot Guy nationwide. 

Although there are no current vacancies for the position of Carrot Guy, perhaps hearing about the experiences of previous students will serve as inspiration, or perhaps deterrence, for prospective Carrot Guys. 

“It takes a certain kind of person to be Carrot Guy,” Davis Carrot Guy No. 2 said. “I will do tai chi, some people will do yoga in the carrot suit, I've raced people down in the grass, I've tried to hit a kick-flip on a skateboard in the carrot suit. You have to be a sort of ‘out there’ kind of person.”

Carrot Guy No. 1 went on to describe a particularly memorable YikYak post, which involved Gary May, Gunrock and Carrot Guy yaoi. 

 “They featured [us] with a pregnancy test, and that's me discovering it,” Carrot Guy No. 1 said. “Personally, I wouldn't react like this because I wouldn't be involved with these two. Maybe Gunrock.”

Perhaps the most outrageous story comes from UCLA, where the first Carrot Guy attended university. 

“He asked me to run in the UCLA Undie Run,” Tashjian said. “I did not know what that was; I thought it was a marathon in underwear, so I okayed it. Low and behold, I did not know that everyone would be inebriated and drunk, and the love for Carrot Guy was expressed by picking him up and throwing him around, and so he got pretty beat up.” 

When asked how long they plan to carry on the torch of Carrot Guy, both UC Davis students said they hope to maintain their positions for as long as possible. 

“Everybody's always so happy to see him,” Davis Carrot Guy No. 1 said. “I feel like a Disney princess actor at Disneyland. I love it. Yeah, it's definitely one of the best gigs I've ever had.” 

Written by: Domenica Peloso — features@theaggie.org