Made-in-China 'Phryges' toys are surprise mascots for Paris Olympics 2024
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games Committee on Monday unveiled the mascot for the international sporting event. Organisers hope to sell two million of these made-in-China toys in the shape of the 'Phrygian' cap, a symbol of the French republic and revolutionary spirit.
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Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organising committee, hailed it as a "special day" and announced that the summer Games' mascot would "break with tradition" and not be in the shape of an animal.
The 44-year-old triple Olympic canoeing champion said the red Phrygian cap is "known throughout the world" and is present "in art, in town halls and on stamps" across France.
"From ancient times to our contemporary history, peoples have proudly worn this cap to express their freedom: freed slaves in ancient Rome, countries of Latin America who recover its meaning as in Nicaragua and Colombia or even on the flag of New York State to signify freedom, independence, and justice," the committee said.
'French spirit'
In choosing the cap worn by Marianne, the personification of the French Revolution, the organising committee has chosen to represent the Republican and revolution-era history.
It is another reference to French history alongside the marathon route which mirrors the one French women took to Versailles from Paris on 5 October, 1789, to protest over principally the rising price of bread.
"We want the mascots to incarnate the French spirit," the committee said.
One of the mascot's eyes is blue and one of the two is draped in two ribbons in the colours of the French flag, in the style of a cockade, or knot of ribbons, which was another symbol of republicanism during the French Revolution.
The Paralympic mascot is different in that one of the legs is a runner's blade.
Co-designed by the creative agency W and the Paris 2024 design teams, the mascots will be available from 15 November in Carrefour supermarkets, Paris 2024's "premium" partner and exclusive distributor, in main toy shops as well as in Paris 2024's first official boutique, which is due to open in the Les Halles shopping centre in Paris on Monday.
On vous présente la Phryge Olympique et la Phryge Paralympique !
— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) November 14, 2022
Les mascottes de #Paris2024 ✨
Sportives, fêtardes… et françaises 🇫🇷
Here are the Olympic Phryge and the Paralympic Phryge!
The #Paris2024 mascots ✨
They are sporty, love to party... and are so French 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/plupKzQqNs
Profitable business
The Paris 2024 Olympics Games organisers defended the fact that the toy replicas of the mascot are almost all "made in China".
The Phryges stuffed toys are manufactured by the French companies Gipsy Toys and Doudou et Compagnie and made mainly of recycled materials.
The two French companies are established in China, since "the entire toy industry in France has been relocated to Asia", Julie Matikhine, director of the Paris 2024 brand told France Info on Monday.
"18 percent of the stuffed animals produced by the company Doudou et Compagnie will be in Brittany", in the hope of "relocating part of the sector", she stated.
The characters will also be available in the form of T-shirts, hoodies, key rings and pins.
The Paris 2024 organisers' ambition is to sell two million copies of the Phryges by the start of the Olympic Games.
No figures were given so far for the number of toy replicas that have been manufactured but they are expected to make up "between 20 and 25 percent" of merchandising revenue, which in all is expected to bring in €127 million, according to budget projections.
A revised budget is due to be issued between now and the end of December to cut down on costs as the organisers' financial plans have been affected by inflation.
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