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[[File:Zoich.jpg|thumb|The design of Zoich, the proposed mascot for the [[2014 Winter Olympics]].]]
'''Zoich''' ([[Cyrillic]]: Зойч, {{IPA|ru|zojtɕ|pron}}) was a proposed mascot for the [[2014 Winter Olympics|XXII Winter Olympics]] from the official online poll to select a mascot for the [[2014 Winter Olympics|2014 Sochi games]]. Throughout the online voting, it was the most popular mascot from those submitted. It took around 40 minutes for Zoich to be voted to the top spot.<ref name="zoichstudio">{{cite web|url=http://www.artlebedev.ru/everything/zoich/process/ |title=Создание Зойча |trans-title=Creation of Zoich |access-date=2011-06-24}}</ref> The committee decided not to introduce it to the final round of the voting.
'''Zoich''' can be considered example of [[guerilla marketing|guerrilla marketing]], as the artist was commissioned by the 2014 Olympic Committee to create a mascot which would serve as a promotion for the competition. In a June 2011 statement from the president of [[Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee]], it was revealed that Zoich was not a genuine independent entry into the competition.<ref name="theykilledzoich">{{cite news |url=http://lenta.ru/columns/2011/06/17/zoich/ |title=Они убили Зойча |trans-title=They Killed Zoich |accessdate=2011-06-24 |date=2011-06-17 |publisher=[[Lenta.ru]]}}</ref><ref name="fakedzoich">{{cite web |url=http://themoscowtimes.com/news/article/olympic-organizers-faked-mascot-entry/438997.html |title=Olympic Organizers Faked Mascot Entry |trans-title=Mascot Entry Faked |access-date=2021-02-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318163913/http://themoscowtimes.com/news/article/olympic-organizers-faked-mascot-entry/438997.html |archive-date=18 March 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Background==
In September 1, 2010, The Organizing Committee of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, in conjunction with the newspaper [[Izvestia]], announced an open online competition to select the mascots for the 2014 games. The competition received 24,048 entries from across Russia and Russians abroad. On September 10, 2010, Moscow artist and designer Yegor Zhgun entered with an original sketch of an imaginary frog, naming it "Zoich". According to its author, the idea of Zoich was influenced by the character [[Hypnotoad]] from the show ''[[Futurama]]''.<ref name="zoichstudio" />
==Description of the mascot==
Zoich is a fuzzy blue frog. The [[Olympic Rings]] 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".<ref>[http://sochi-24.ru/sochi-2014/olimpijskij-talisman.20101020.24330.html  Олимпийский талисман Сочи-2014]</ref> Many Russian-speaking people read "2014" as "Zoich" upon presentation of Sochi-2014 logo. Zhgun's description of his mascot: "The [[Olympic Rings]] 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 <ref name="zoichstudio" /> of his mascot on [[YouTube]] on November 8, 2010, showing Zoich in motion, the press dubbed the mascot "[[Hypnotoad]]", referencing its obvious resemblance to the character Hypnotoad from American animated TV series ''[[Futurama]]''.<ref>[http://www.rosbalt.ru/2010/12/04/797110.html Информационное агентство «Росбалт» В конкурсе талисманов «Сочи-2014» к последнему дню приема работ лидирует «гипножаба»]</ref> 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 [[Futurama (season 6)|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.<ref name="theykilledzoich" /><ref name="fakedzoich" />
==References==
<!--- See [[Wikipedia:Footnotes]] on how to create references using <ref></ref> tags which will then appear here automatically -->
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.itogi.ru/telegr2/2010/47/159028.html Анастасия Резниченко Скажи-ка, френд / Журнал «Итоги» № 47(754) от 22.11. 2010]
* [http://www.eg.ru/daily/sports/22616/ Дмитрий Лифанцев Олимпийская жаба / Экспресс Газета № 46 (823) от 15 11. 2010]
*  [http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/2011/02/28/hypnotoad-disqualified-from-russias-2014-olympic-mascot-competition Article on Zoich's disqualification from the 2014 Olympic mascot competition by Comedy Central Insider], the news blog of [[Comedy Central]], which broadcasts ''[[Futurama]]''.
* [http://www.artlebedev.ru/everything/zoich/process/ Zoich creation process] from Zhgun's studio (i.e. his employer).
* {{YouTube|R926UJw7Kac|Original clip of Zoich}} uploaded by Zhgun.
[[Category:2014 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Fictional frogs]]
[[Category:Fictional Russian people]]