Paris unveiled its logo for the '24 Games, and it is "getting torn to shreds on social media -- with some saying it's more reminiscent of an emo kid's haircut, the character Rachel from TV's 'Friends' or even singer Carly Rae Jepsen," according to Tamar Lapin of the N.Y. POST. Organizers said that the emblem is "meant to depict three 'simple and powerful' symbols: the Olympic flame, a gold medal and the hair and lips of Marianne, the personification of France" since the French Revolution in 1789. But some on social media "couldn't get past the haircut." The "flame icon inside the emblem reminded some of the logo for dating app Tinder." The logo, which "took a year and a half to create," marks a "change from the colorful Eiffel Tower design used in France's bid" for the '24 Games (N.Y. POST, 10/23).
MEMES GALORE: Organizers said that the image of Marianne was "incorporated as a reminder" that the '24 Games are "for everyone in France and in homage to the female athletes competing." The logo is "accompanied by the words 'Paris 2024' in an art deco-style font, which was popular when Paris last hosted" the Olympics in 1924. One of the "most common jokes about the new logo was that it looked like an advert for a hair salon or product" (BBC.com, 10/22). TODAY.com's Scott Stump wrote it has "become a Rorschach-like test in which people have projected all types of backstories and personalities on the logo." It is like the "French version of the viral bird-or-bunny or rabbit-or-duck optical illusions that have divided the internet" (TODAY.com, 10/22).
