The authorities in northern China have removed a sports mascot for the national games after the design drew public derision for its ugliness, weeks before the country’s biggest sporting event is due to start.
The topiary mascot, in the shape of a happy, chubby baby, was mocked online when it was erected outside the Olympic Centre Stadium in the port city of Tianjin.
The work, inspired by the host city’s folk arts, consisted of a dark-green baby with a giant head sporting two hair buns.
“Has it gone mouldy?” one Chinese web user asked, while others said the green child looked scary and too far removed from the original design of a smiling, torch-bearing, baby known as Jinwa, or the child of Tianjin.
Some web comments suggested the mascot topiary brought shame to the city. “Could it be another case of nepotism?” one user wrote.
Advertisement
“This head is too horrifying,” another wrote.
Citing the overwhelmingly negative online opinions, an unnamed official for the games told the state-owned China Central Television that the organisers had removed the mascot on July 27.
This is one example of how the authorities have been gauging public opinions through the internet and responding accordingly. In recent years governments of all levels have employed technology to monitor public discourse. They can intervene by changing practices, redirecting the online conversations, or suppressing the speech if necessary.
The national games, held once every four years, will open in Tianjin later this month.