About Pinkie the Pink Elephant
Drivers leaving Interstate 90 and 94 near DeForest can encounter an animal difficult to explain through normal Wisconsin wildlife: a gigantic pink elephant wearing thick black glasses.
Pinkie has stood beside the roadside gas station since the 1960s. The elephant was installed to make the business stand out from competing stations at the interchange, an advertising problem solved by choosing an object no passing driver could reasonably mistake for standard signage.
Large fiberglass animals were once common promotional tools, but Pinkie’s color and eyewear give the statue an unusually specific personality. The glasses have changed over the years, and the elephant has endured repainting, graffiti, ownership changes, and decades of weather while remaining in essentially the same roadside role.
Travel Wisconsin still promotes Pinkie as one of the state’s quirky photo stops. The neighboring business sells Pinkie souvenirs, which means the old advertising device eventually became the thing being advertised.
There is no complicated attraction surrounding it. Pinkie works because a huge pink elephant in glasses beside an interstate gas station needs very little additional explanation.