The 2016 Rio Organizing Committee "revealed the official mascots for the Olympic and Paralympic games," according to Chesney Hearst of the RIO TIMES. The two mascots, a yellow creature chosen for the Olympic Games and a green and blue one picked for the Paralympic games, "stand for Brazil’s wide variety of animals and plants." The official unveiling of the 2016 Rio mascots "followed a flurry of activity featuring former Olympic mascots appearing around the city at famed Rio tourist locations." Rio 2016 Brand Dir Beth Lula said, “The Rio 2016 mascots represent the diversity of our culture, of our people" (RIO TIMES, 11/24). REUTERS' Stephen Eisenhammer wrote the mascots "are a key part of the Olympics merchandising campaign which is set to feature 12,000 products and is an important revenue source and a vital way of engaging the public." Organizers hope to raise 1B reais ($398M) "in retail sales from Rio 2016 branded merchandise." A public poll "will be held to decide their names from a shortlist of Oba and Eba; Tiba Tuque and Esquindim; and Vinicius and Tom" (REUTERS, 11/24). In London, Sarah Ebner wrote the mascot "joins a series of unfathomable creatures." Decades "may have passed since the first official one, a dachsund called Waldi in Munich in 1972, but the strange creations, intended to promote the finest of sporting occasions, continue to confuse as much as they inspire." While "we are told" that the Olympic mascot lives in a tree-house, "it is not revealed where its Paralympic friend, whose mission it is to 'have fun,' comes from." The Paralympic version, created to represent Brazilian flora, is said to love the samba, play all the Paralympic sports and have the unlikely talent of being able to “pull crazy objects out of his head of leaves in order to get out of any jam” (LONDON TIMES, 11/24).
