Got something to tell us, ScoMo? Trying to create national pride, the AUS government authorised the use of furries for our Olympic mascots.
The furry creatures, known as fursonas, have been printed onto various Olympics promotional merch, including coins, booklets and comics.
The Royal Australian Mint was looking for someone to redesign its boxing kangaroo mascot and create a new one for a series of collectible coins to drum up national pride ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics.
“Rest assured the people employing me had no idea what furries were,” said the furry designer, Adelaide-based artist Landeg.
“But I did.”
The furry fandom is a subculture interested in anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics.
Be careful who you call ugly in middle school 😳💦 pic.twitter.com/CRkNqC9acN
— Rhodochrosite 🏳️⚧️🌹🌽✊🏿🏴 (@MnCO3_Rh0) July 16, 2021
According to the ABC, an Australian Mint spokesperson said in a statement that they’d intended for the mascots to be manga-style in tribute to Japan being the host country.
Talking to Triple J Hack, Landeg said they understood where people were coming from because the level of detail and effort is typically seen in furry art.
“Furries are usually the only ones who care about making anthropomorphic animals look good,” they said.
“You expect promotional mascots like this to look kind of gimmicky, or phoned-in, especially when the target audience is children, so I think people assume any artist who puts in the effort has to have some other ulterior motive; but no, it’s just because I understood the assignment.”
A spokesperson from Woolies said that although the Mint didn’t realise what their commission looked like, it was a success.
“We’ve already received positive customer feedback, including from customers who are excited by the representation in the Olympic and Paralympic games and the Aussie Heroes collection,” Woolworths said in a statement.
The Mint added that over 90 per cent of the coin collection sold within three days of becoming available.
I LOVE MY HOMELAND. #WOOLIESFURRIES #AUSTRALIA #furries https://t.co/OBggMrJwpm
— Your Best Eurasian Oy. Scottish Independence 2022. (@challahyall) July 18, 2021
Landeg said that they wouldn’t consider themselves a part of the furry community, but Reddit users seem to think otherwise.
“Ok that’s not just furry vibes. That’s just furry art. I have absolutely zero doubt a furry was hired,” said one Redditor.
“Evacuate to aldi QUICK,” wrote another user.
NOT AUSTRALIA HAVING FURRIES AS OUR OLYMPIC MASCOTS 😭
— jay | jesse ⚣ (@N1GHTMAREA5YLUM) July 20, 2021
The Tokyo Olympics are set to kick off on Friday, let’s hope some of our new furry friends make an appearance…
