I’m sure by now all of you are familiar with the totally awesome mascots for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. I’ve been a fan of Meomi and all of their super, super adorable illustrations and animations for awhile, so it’s great to see them get this huge exposure. I’m probably a little biased here (1. because I love Meomi and 2. because I love Vancouver) but after doing a little bit of research on previous Olympics mascots, I think the 2010 Winter Games might just have the best bunch.
Which makes me think, well it must be incredibly hard to come up with a mascot for the Olympic games. I mean, we all remember all the flack that the London 2012 Summer games got for the logo that shan’t be named, but who’s really paying attention to the mascots beyond little kids? And even then, can you describe to me an Olympic mascot? Betcha can’t.
But the thing about Olympic mascots is that they have to represent a lot. You’ve got to sum up the entirety of what your country stands for and make sure it’s marketable.
So we come to what might be the worst Olympic mascot ever: Izzy from the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games.
I mean, what the heck does that say about the Atlanta? About the US? Clearly someone was thinking way more about marketing than they were about what the Olympics meant to not just America, but a state/city that wasn’t quite as influential in ‘96 as it is now.
Also, check out this awesome mascot from the ‘72 Munich Summer Games:
Possibly on the completely opposite end of the spectrum from the aforementioned ‘Izzy’ is ‘Waldi.’ Sure it looks slightly dated, but it’s nowhere as garish as the ‘96 mascot. It’s elegant in its simplicity.
So where do Sumi, Quatchi, and Miga fit in when it comes to marketing potential vs. embodying the ideals of the host country? I think they strike a pretty good balance. In fact, I think if you can come up with a mascot that’s incredibly representative of the country’s ideals and still have it look cute to boot, you’ve done a pretty amazing thing.
Oh, and check out this sweet animation by Buck with the 2010 Winter Games mascots here.
Tags: animation, branding, design, illustration, logos, marketing, mascots