Zoich ( Cyrillic: Зойч, ) was a proposed mascot for the XXII Winter Olympics, which took first place in the official online poll to select a mascot for the 2014 Sochi games. Despite being a popular Internet character, the committee chose not to introduce it to the final round of the voting. Upon introduction and until the end of the online voting, it was the most popular mascot from those submitted. It also took only about 40 minutes for Zoich to take the top spot.
Zoich can be considered example of
guerrilla marketing
Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. It is a type of publicity. The term was popularized by Jay Conrad Levinson's 1984 ...
, as the artist was commissioned by the 2014 Olympic Committee to create a mascot which would serve as an advertisement for the competition. It was revealed in June 2011 that Zoich was not a genuine independent entry into the competition in a statement from the president of
Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee
The Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi is the organization responsible for the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.
Izvestia
''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes i ...
, announced an open online competition to select the mascots for the 2014 games. The competition receives 24,048 entries from across Russia and Russians abroad.
September 10, 2010: Moscow artist and designer Yegor Zhgun entered an original sketch of an imaginary frog, naming it "Zoich".
According to its author, the idea of Zoich was influenced by the character
Hypnotoad
This article lists the many characters of '' Futurama,'' an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a ...
Olympic Rings
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags and symbols to elevate the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competition—such as the flame, fanfare and theme—as well as those used throughout ...
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's description of his mascot: "The
Olympic Rings
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags and symbols to elevate the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competition—such as the flame, fanfare and theme—as well as those used throughout ...
in his eyes spell the progress of Olympic ideals; the tsars’ crown on his head recalls authority and faith."
Subsequent event
After Zhgun posted an animated clip of his mascot on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
on November 8, 2010, showing Zoich in motion, the press dubbed the mascot "
Hypnotoad
This article lists the many characters of '' Futurama,'' an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a ...
", referencing its obvious resemblance to the character Hypnotoad from American animated TV series '' Futurama''. In July 2011, ''Futurama'' referenced the influence of the Hypnotoad on Zoich; in the opening sequence of the episode " All the Presidents' Heads". The 20th episode of the show's sixth season, shows a brief clip from Zhgun's original Zoich animated clip mounted on a television screen.
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.
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...