Weltpokal post: When Mascots Go Bad

Associated Press

Goleo: Dude, where's your lederhosen?

The company making the World Cup's mascot, Goleo, filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday. Truth be told, this was coming from a while back, although given the photo gallery evidence of previous mascots, it's not like he was all that bad, the bar for these things having been set somewhere between Clutch Cargo and a Lego set - apart from that lack of paraphernalia, that is.

A eulogy from DW-World:

Goleo VI will go down in history as a failed attempt at creating a market for teddy-bear erotica. Why would he otherwise be wearing a T-shirt, but stay stark naked down below?

Back in the winter alternative mascots have been pitched, including the German fan group BAFF's Prolleo and his pal Pilz:

The revised lion - Prolleo - will carry beer and wear trousers.
'He’ll mingle with fans in host cities’, says a spokesman. ‘And he’ll have trousers on, unlike the pervert lion’.

Comments

[Carla]

Yikes, looks like Goleo is missing his (1966) World Cup Willie! :-o

[Alanah]

"teddy-bear erotica"??

Why didn't anyone think of marketing it this way before?! Oh, the horrors of a missed opportunity...