Hodori
Hodori (Korean: 호돌이 ) was the official mascot of the 1988 Summer Olympics in the South Korean capital Seoul . Hodori appeared occasionally accompanied by a second mascot named Hosuni .
description
Hodori is an orange, male tiger . He wears a sangmo, a traditional, typically Korean hat, on his head. Attached to it is a blue ribbon that forms the letter S, which stands for Seoul, the venue for the games. Hodori has the Olympic rings hanging around his neck on a ribbon in the national colors of South Korea. The motif of the tiger was chosen because it is deeply rooted in Korean mythology and culture. It should primarily express hospitality and friendliness. In addition to Hodori, there was a second mascot, a tiger girl named Hosuni, who only rarely appeared. The name Hodori is made up of the syllables ho and dori . Ho comes from the Korean word horangi (German: tiger), dori is the belittling of the word "boy". The syllable suni in the name of the second mascot comes from the Korean word for "girl".
Emergence
The Games Organizing Committee held a public competition to find an official mascot. A total of 4344 proposals were submitted. Four suggestions were shortlisted: a squirrel, a pair of mandarin ducks , a rabbit and a tiger. The committee finally decided on the motif of the tiger, a design by Kim Hyun. Another competition was called to find a name, in the course of which over 2000 name suggestions were made. The choice fell on Hodori, the mascot was presented in April 1984.
Reception and marketing
Hodori was received mostly positively, his appearance was described as friendly and graceful. The news magazine Der Spiegel described Hodori as a "silly grinning tiger".
A total of 86 different licensed Olympic souvenirs were produced with the Hodoris motif or the logo of the Summer Games. Sales started in South Korea in 1984, and the articles were on offer worldwide from 1987. Hodori figures were produced in 32 different versions, there were also textiles, plush toys, badges, dishes and other giveaways with the image of the mascot. The Japanese advertising agency Dentsu created an animated series with Hodori on behalf of the Organizing Committee of the Games, which was sold to various international television channels.
At a Korean cartoon competition, the comic Come along Hodori won first prize in the “Children” category.
Litigation with Kellogg's
The American breakfast cereal producer Kellog's threatened the organizing committee of the games with a copyright lawsuit because the company found that Hodori looked too similar to the Kellogg's mascot "Tony the Tiger"; the Olympic mascot should be changed. The committee then argued that South Korea had not yet ratified the world copyright treaty at the time and that there was therefore no need for action. At a meeting in Chicago between representatives of the organizing committee and Kellogg's management, a compromise was finally reached. Hodori was allowed to be used as a mascot, but the organizers of the games had to guarantee Kellogg's not to sell any rights to the character to competing companies.
Others
Hodori was used as a stamp motif in several countries, such as South Korea , Ecuador , Malawi and Senegal . The Iraq published in 1988 a stamp on the Hodori together with the armed Saddam Hussein is depicted.
Author Vincent J. Ricquart published the anecdote in his 1988 book The Games Within the Games: The Story Behind the 1988 Seoul Olympics that the name Hodori goes back to Chun Doo-hwan , who was the President of South Korea from 1980 to February 1988. According to Ricquart, Chun personally picked the name as that was his nickname while at the military academy.
Web links
- Seoul 1988 Mascot: Hodori on the official website of the International Olympic Committee
Individual evidence
- ↑ Katia Rathsfeld: From dachshunds and fantasy animals. (No longer available online.) ZDF today, August 4, 2016, archived from the original on November 12, 2016 ; accessed on November 11, 2016 .
- ^ A b c d James F. Larson, Heung-Soo Park: Global Television and the Politics of the Seoul Olympics . Westview Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8133-1693-6 , pp. 104 ff .
- ↑ The tiger in Korean culture. Korea Welle, October 6, 2013, accessed November 11, 2016 .
- ↑ History of the Olympic Mascots - Seoul 1988: Hodori and Hosuni. Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 10, 2016, accessed on November 11, 2016 .
- ↑ Olympic mascot: Freak show of mythical creatures. Spiegel online, August 5, 2008, accessed November 11, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Randy Harvey: Seoul '88: Korean Mascot Caught Tiger by the Tale. Los Angeles Times, September 5, 1988, accessed November 11, 2016 .
- ↑ Lucky mascots? Freestampmagazine, May 27, 2015, accessed November 11, 2016 .