No unanimity? Why ?
A bunch of reasons. Where do you want us to start? Take the Phryges, new mascots for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, unveiled earlier this week. Their designers thought they had an excellent flash, inspired by the Phrygian caps, symbols of the French Revolution. But the criticisms were quick to fuse in the media and on social networks.
What kind of reviews?
Ridiculous to begin with. The shape of the characters was quickly compared to a giant clitoris, some even putting the poor mascots and graphics of this organ of the female genitalia side by side, to make their point of view. True, the similarities are striking. But after all, why not. A little lesson in sex education never hurt anyone…right, gentlemen?
That’s all ?
But no. Beyond the mockery, the case became political, when we learned that 80% of the 2 million Phryges stuffed animals sold at the Paris Olympics will actually be made… in China. This information caused an outcry among supporters of the made in France, who denounced this absurd and counter-productive relocation. Yves Jégo, founder of the France Guarantee certification, spoke of a “cold shower”, while the sovereignist Florian Philippot, former right-hand man of Marine Le Pen within the National Front, tweeted: “There is a whole clique who wants the death of France and its industry. Even more upset, the polemicist Laurent Alexandre spoke of a “scandal”, a “toxic” decision and an “intellectual suicide”, adding: “I don’t know who the cretin is who had the idea of having these mascots made in China. »
Whoa there. It’s starting to go wrong! Nothing positive for the poor Phryges?
Yes. A balm for supporters of the “blue-white-red basket”, 20% of the stuffed animals will be manufactured in France by the Doudou et Compagnie company, located in La Guerche-de-Bretagne, in Ille-et-Vilaine. French enough for you? The problem is that they will be sold for more! What do you want, it’s the reality of the market… very profitable, moreover! According to the Yahoo! Finance and SportsBuzzBusiness, the mascot of the Rio Olympics in 2016 would have brought in nearly 300 million US dollars in profits and that of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, 130 million. FYI: Olympic mascots have existed since Munich in 1972.
With all that, we were almost going to forget the other point of contention
Yes. His name is La’eeb, and he’s the mascot for the soccer World Cup, which starts today in Qatar.
PHOTO ODD ANDERSEN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Manta ray? Casper the ghost? Neither…
What is the controversy?
Let’s talk about misunderstanding. Because nobody seems to quite understand if it is a manta ray or a Qatari version of Casper the friendly ghost. Many have also noted the fact that it is the first World Cup mascot to have no feet, the height for soccer.
But then, what does La’eeb represent?
Neither ray nor Casper, but a stylized version of the ghutra, the piece of white cloth that some Arab men wear on their heads. According to FIFA (Fédération internationale de Football association), La’eeb is from a metaverse populated by mascots and has watched over the World Cup for years. For the most critical, it rather symbolizes the ghost of the workers who died in Qatar during the construction of the stadiums and, more broadly, the disembodied spirit of the event.
Are these poor mascots at least a little effective, on the marketing side?
We asked Myriam Brouard, professor of marketing at the University of Ottawa. His conclusion is mixed: “Qatar’s mascot is representative of the culture and of a homogeneous population. It is a hat that is part of everyday life and traditional clothing. The Phryges represent the French Revolution, but it may not represent the heterogeneous France of today. It’s an icon. But there are a lot of people who won’t have a sense of belonging…”
Sources: Midi Libre, Paris Match, Le Parisien, RTL, Yahoo! Finance, SportsBuzzBusiness, The Sporting News