London 2012 Olympic Mascots Unveiled

London 2012 Olympic Mascots Unveiled as two one-eyed guys named Wenlock and Mandeville. Their name came from rich heritage of UK , Wenlock is named after Much Wenlock in Shropshire, home of Dr William Penny Brookes, founder of the modern Olympics and  Mandeville got its name from Stoke Mandeville hospital, Bucks, home of the first paralympics.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said, ”They will connect young people with sport and tell the story of our proud Olympic and Paralympic history. By linking young people to the values of sport, Wenlock and Mandeville will help inspire kids to strive to be the best they can be…  We’ve always been open about this: we wanted to do things differently in London.”

They are of course thoroughly modern mascots with their own web pages and individual Twitter (Wenlock, Mandeville) and Facebook (Wenlock, Mandeville) pages. London-based creative agency Iris signed these characters. Each of the characters has a single eye which represents a camera, allowing them to “record everything” certainly appropriate in today’s surveillance and YouTube society and secondly we see every one with one eye means equal treatment for all and no discrimination at any ground.

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On first view, I have to admit I thought “dear God what is that thing” but I think they’re growing on me. I’m not sure about the shiney surface and I think the helmet on Wenlock looks like one of those tacky straw cowboy hats, but they look cute in the little Union Jack outfits and I think they will be fun for kids who are the intended audience.

Please give your opinion about the Mascots in comments.