FRANCE98 98 – About the Mascot

Objective: A Mascot representative of FRANCE 98

The role of the Mascot is to personify the World Cup and its ethos throughout the world and to appeal to people’s emotions, imaginations and dreams. In order to appeal to the greatest number of people, the Mascot had to possess a strong and distinctive personality. This is why the objectives assigned were so clearly defined:

To be recognized throughout the world as coming from France
To be faithful to the values of FRANCE 98 – universality, sharing, broad emotions
To have human characteristics
To be bold, cheerful, daring and sporty
To appeal to all ages

FIRST STEPS IN THE LIMELIGHT

Before the unveiling of a mascot, there is always a certain mystery surrounding it. Each of the people involved, designers and organizers, have to keep it a secret until its “official birth” is announced. In this case, the secret was even more difficult to keep as the official Mascot of the 1998 World Cup was presented during a television program which was pre-recorded five days before being broadcast during prime time, on Saturday, May 18 on TF1, the top French channel. Jean-Pierre Foucault, the host of the show “Les années tube” (The Hit Years) presented the mascot launch in a sequence entitled “Les années but” (The Goal Years). Michel Platini was accompanied by Claude Simmet, president of the French Football Federation, and they were surrounded by celebrated French players, the winners of the 1984 European Nations’ Cup, along with Aimé Jaquet’s current French Team. In this festive atmosphere, at exactly 22:49 p.m., this likeable player cockerel, emblem of the 1998 World Cup, appeared for the first time in a video clip, and then strutted about “in person” on the set.

But it was only the start of the celebrations for this new-born chick. The next day, he was the centre of attraction at a private party in the reception rooms of TF1. He was just beginning to recover from this when, 24 hours later, he was presented to the personnel of the French Organizing Committee…

And the weekend was just as eventful. Our cockerel had to go to Auxerre to take part in the TF1 program “Télé-Foot.”

A mascot certainly gets around and has a full life!

The cockerel was the natural choice

The cockerel has a positive and significant image in all cultures and religions throughout the world. It has a strong image and is a solar symbol since it announces the sunrise. In fact, FRANCE 98 has already used this connection since the official emblem features the football sun emblem rising behind the earth.

It is also typically French. The Latin word Gallus means both a cockerel and a Gaul. The cockerel was even featured on many Gaulish coins of the Gallo-Roman period.

In the 15th century, the French began to use the term “Gaul” to define their nation. Since then, the cockerel has been used constantly as a symbol of the French national identity. It has now invariably been associated abroad with France and the character of its people.

So the cockerel was the obvious choice to represent the 1998 World Cup in France. All that remained to be done was to give the cockerel a personality worthy of the event.