Zoich (
Cyrillic
The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...
: Зойч, ) was a proposed mascot for the
2014 Winter Olympics from the official online mascot poll. Throughout the online voting, it was the most popular mascot from those submitted. It took around 40 minutes for Zoich to be voted to the top spot.
The committee decided not to introduce it to the final round of the voting.
Zoich was example of
guerrilla marketing
Guerrilla marketing is an Advertising, advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a Product (business), product or Service (business), service. It is a type of publicity. The ...
, as the artist was commissioned by the
Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee to create a mascot which would serve as a promotion for the competition. In a June 2011 statement from the president of Committee, it was revealed that Zoich was not a genuine independent entry into the competition.
Background and creation
On September 1, 2010, The Organizing Committee of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, in conjunction with the newspaper
Izvestia
''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...
, announced an open online competition to select the mascots for the 2014 games. The competition received 24,048 entries from across Russia and Russians abroad. On September 10, 2010, Moscow artist and designer Yegor Zhgun entered with an original sketch of an imaginary frog, naming it "Zoich". According to its author, the idea of Zoich was influenced by the character
Hypnotoad from the show ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...
''.
Zoich was commissioned specifically to serve as a fake "protest vote" and to become a viral
Internet meme
An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...
, which it succeeded in. Prior to the reveal that Zoich was commissioned by the Sochi 2014 committee, it had become a popular political symbol among activists in the
2009–2010 Kaliningrad protests, being used to represent the corruption of the Russian government.
The registration of intellectual rights to Zoich by the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee was revealed on June 14, 2011. The idea that Zoich was not a legitimate independent entry to the competition was deemed so far-fetched that it required statements from the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and Zhgun to convince journalists of its legitimacy.
Description
Zoich is a fuzzy blue frog. The
Olympic Rings rotate in its eyes, taking the role of pupils: black, yellow, and blue in the right eye and red and green in the left. In its mouth, the frog holds a ski pole and a Russian Imperial Crown sits atop its head. The mascot takes its name from the year "2014" as it is represented on the Olympiad's logo: The numbers 2, 0, and 1 as they are represented look like the Latin
Z,
O, and
I. The number 4 looks like the Russian letter
Ч, which is like the English "ch".
Many Russian-speaking people read "2014" as "Zoich" upon presentation of Sochi-2014 logo. Zhgun described the mascot, saying that "The
Olympic Rings in his eyes spell the progress of Olympic ideals; the tsars' crown on his head recalls authority and faith."
See also
*
Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat
*
List of Olympic mascots
The Olympic mascots are fictional characters who represent the cultural heritage of the location where the Olympic Games are taking place. They are often an animal native to the area or human figures.
One of the first Olympic mascots was create ...
References
External links
Анастасия Резниченко Скажи-ка, френд / Журнал «Итоги» № 47(754) от 22.11. 2010Дмитрий Лифанцев Олимпийская жаба / Экспресс Газета № 46 (823) от 15 11. 2010*
Article on Zoich's disqualification from the 2014 Olympic mascot competition by Comedy Central Insider the news blog of
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
, which broadcasts ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...
''.
Zoich creation processfrom Zhgun's studio (i.e. his employer).
* uploaded by Zhgun.
{{Olympic mascots
2014 Winter Olympics
Frog mascots
Fictional Russian people
Olympic mascots
Mascots introduced in 2010
Russian mascots