The mascot has been part of the world cup and indeed all sporting events. The Russia 2018 world cup is not going to be an exception, hence the move to come with the event's mascot.
The word mascot has been traced back to a dialectal use in Provence and Gascony in France, where it was used to describe anything which brought luck to a household. The French word "mascotte" (Provençal version: "mascoto") means talisman, charm, and is derivative of the word "masco" meaning sorceress.
The word was first popularized in 1880, when French composer Edmond Audran wrote a popular comic operetta titled La Mascotte. However, it had been in use in France long before this, as French slang among gamblers, derived from the Occitan word masco, meaning "witch" (perhaps from Portuguese mascotto, meaning "witchcraft"), and also mascoto, meaning "spell".
Audran's operetta was so popular that it was translated into English as The Mascot, introducing into the English language a word for any animal, person, or object that brings good luck. The word with this definition was then incorporated into many other languages, although often in the French form mascotte.
A mascot is any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fictional, representative spokespeople for consumer products, such as the rabbit used in advertising and marketing for the General Mills brand of breakfast cereal, Trix.
In the world of sports, mascots are also used for merchandising. Team mascots are often confused with team nicknames.[1] While the two can be interchangeable, they are not always the same. For example, the athletic teams of the University of Alabama are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, while their mascot is an elephant named Big Al. Team mascots may take the form of a logo, person, live animal, inanimate object, or a costumed character, and often appear at team matches and other related events, sports mascots are often used as marketing tools for their teams to children. Since the mid-20th century, costumed characters have provided teams with an opportunity to choose a fantasy creature as their mascot, as is the case with the Philadelphia Phillies' mascot, the Phillie Phanatic.
Costumed mascots are commonplace, and are regularly used as goodwill ambassadors in the community for their team, company, or organization such as the U.S. Forest Service's Smokey Bear.
Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot, and one of the first mascots to be associated with a major sporting competition. The mascot designs show some representing a characteristic feature (costume, flora, fauna, etc.) of the host country.[1]
The word mascot has been traced back to a dialectal use in Provence and Gascony in France, where it was used to describe anything which brought luck to a household. The French word "mascotte" (Provençal version: "mascoto") means talisman, charm, and is derivative of the word "masco" meaning sorceress.
The word was first popularized in 1880, when French composer Edmond Audran wrote a popular comic operetta titled La Mascotte. However, it had been in use in France long before this, as French slang among gamblers, derived from the Occitan word masco, meaning "witch" (perhaps from Portuguese mascotto, meaning "witchcraft"), and also mascoto, meaning "spell".
Audran's operetta was so popular that it was translated into English as The Mascot, introducing into the English language a word for any animal, person, or object that brings good luck. The word with this definition was then incorporated into many other languages, although often in the French form mascotte.
A mascot is any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fictional, representative spokespeople for consumer products, such as the rabbit used in advertising and marketing for the General Mills brand of breakfast cereal, Trix.
In the world of sports, mascots are also used for merchandising. Team mascots are often confused with team nicknames.[1] While the two can be interchangeable, they are not always the same. For example, the athletic teams of the University of Alabama are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, while their mascot is an elephant named Big Al. Team mascots may take the form of a logo, person, live animal, inanimate object, or a costumed character, and often appear at team matches and other related events, sports mascots are often used as marketing tools for their teams to children. Since the mid-20th century, costumed characters have provided teams with an opportunity to choose a fantasy creature as their mascot, as is the case with the Philadelphia Phillies' mascot, the Phillie Phanatic.
Costumed mascots are commonplace, and are regularly used as goodwill ambassadors in the community for their team, company, or organization such as the U.S. Forest Service's Smokey Bear.
TO THE CRUX
Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot, and one of the first mascots to be associated with a major sporting competition. The mascot designs show some representing a characteristic feature (costume, flora, fauna, etc.) of the host country.[1]
The World Cup mascot is frequently one or more anthropomorphic
characters targeted at children with cartoon shows and other merchandise
released to coincide with the competition.
The Local Organising Committee (LOC) for
the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ have named a panel of judges as part of
the process to select the official mascot for tournament.
The judges have been tasked with
shortlisting three designs from the 120 submissions received from
Russian design students, which will then be put to a countrywide vote in
Autumn 2016. Once all stages have been completed, the winning character
will have invoked the most public participation of any brand asset in
FIFA World Cup™ history.
Sitting on the panel are actor and
director Fedor Bondarchuk, actress Victoria Tolstoganova, television
presenter Oxana Fedorova, music producer Victor Drobysh, singer Polina
Gagarina, members of the theatrical group “Kvartet I” Leonid Barats and
Rostislav Khait, designer Igor Gurovich, and Chairman of the Board of
Directors at the company “State Sports Lottery” Armen Sarkisyan. The
Russian national football team will be represented by goalkeeper Igor
Akinfeev, who is also the first Ambassador for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The panel will review the creative
proposals submitted by design students in Russia as part of the second
stage of the mascot development campaign. Once they have seen all the
entries, the jury will whittle these down to three designs before the
whole country casts the deciding vote on the World Cup's official mascot
in 2016.
“We think that it's very important
for selection of this engaging ambassador of the FIFA World Cup to
involve professionals from the fields of arts, culture, entertainment
and sport. That's why we have invited expert representatives from these
areas onto the panel,” said LOC Chairman Vitaly Mutko. “They have been
set the objective of not only selecting the strongest visual concepts
for the future mascot, but also considering and understanding the
students’ inspiration for their concept in the context of the role the
Official Mascot needs to fulfil to make it a successful part of the
tournament's history and legacy.”
Every member of the panel has their
own specific role. Children's TV presenter Oxana Fedorova, for example,
will be able to view the mascot through the eyes of young fans, while
the actors and singers can perceive the mascot's creative potential. The
sportsmen can see how it would appeal to the football community and
designer Igor Gurovich will assess the future World Cup ambassador from a
professional point of view.
Fedor Bondarchuk: “Choosing the
mascot is in some ways similar to deciding on the plot for a film. The
outcome could be a comedy, a drama or even a thriller,” claimed
Bondarchuk. “We have the 'cast' to identify (qualifying teams), the
'directors' (coaches) who are immersed by the weekly dramas and the
audience (fans) dreaming to get a ticket to the biggest blockbuster of
2018. I hope the young designers will give the panel a mascot with
character that can have a long and fascinating life”.
Polina Gagarina does not find
herself on this panel by chance, already being involved in the
tournament by singing “Million Voices" alongside a choir of 209 children
at the Russia 2018 Preliminary Draw. "Football unites the world and the
mascot should be a character that everybody recognises. I hope we'll
find a memorable mascot," declared the performer.
Igor Gurovich underlined the
difficulty of the task ahead: “Coming to an agreement that satisfies
everybody will be very tough because all these creative individuals will
view the process and the end result differently.”
The selection campaign for the World Cup mascot was launched by FIFA and the LOC in April 2015 on the website www.talisman.fifa.com
where an initial survey for the mascot's character was conducted. More
than 50,000 young fans took part and identified ten figures. The second
stage was then opened to Russian students enrolled in design schools
across the country, who were tasked with bringing one of the ten
characters to life. After the close of this stage on 30 November, over
120 applications were received through the online submission platform.
Russian footballers also contributed to the project, starring in a clip supporting the mascot campaign.
The final stage of the campaign
takes place in Autumn 2016, when the three designs chosen by the judges'
panel will be presented for a countrywide vote. The ceremony to unveil
the official Russia 2018 mascot is due to take place at the end of
2016.
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