Choosing a mascot for the 2015 Pan Am Games
If all goes according to plan, five years from now, when the city is overcome with the spirit of the Pan Am Games, no one will be thinking about how much money Toronto lost with this athletic gambit. They’ll be thinking about how cute the Games’ mascot is, the same way Miga, Quatchi and Sumi made everyone forget any troubles surrounding the Vancouver Olympic Games. But what will Toronto’s mascot be?
Some suggestions from the Toronto Star: “A new version of the black squirrel Sesqui (short for sesquicentennial), the mascot of Toronto’s 150th birthday in 1984? Or a strange creature like Millenni, Toronto’s tower-headed millennium mascot? A riff on the Porter Airlines raccoon?”
We have our own suggestions:
Pidgway: A bird that rides the TTC to work. Imagine the suspense among Pan Am attendees as they wait to see if Pidgway arrives at events on time.
Hobo, the Hipster Raccoon: Dressed in flannel, tight jeans, suspenders, a tuque and several ironic tattoos, this creature will be distinguishable from a lumberjack by his oversized eyeglasses and trendy axe replacement (an iPad).
Anacondo: We see a bunch of these shiny and slick mascots produced, though we imagine they will be surprisingly small for what they cost.
Bonus, the Bay Street Bear: An aggressive mascot that gets box seats at all the events yet always turns up late, leaves early and talks on its BlackBerry the whole time.
If the cuddly animals don’t pan out, maybe the Games could just tap Michael Cera to be the mascot. Who doesn’t want to hug that guy?
How about Cody the Coyote?
All I can say is that the mascot has to be cute and cuddly like the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Mascots. It should have the same type of eyes nose and mouth as the 2010 Mascots. It should have a native trait to it, something with meaning and something that is native to Canada. Just like Quatchi, Miga, and Sumi which are native mythical creatures that represent Canada is a very smart and cleaver way. Maybe a revamped version of Quatchi, all dressed up like a Canadian fan. Something that attracted me to the Olympic 2010 mascots was their faces (eyes, nose and mouth). The style attracted me. It can’t be ugly and too corny.