(NEXSTAR) — Long lines of tourists have been forming outside the Paris 2024 stores with many keen to get their hands on the official mascot.
The Olympic Phryge mascot is a nod to the Phrygian cap, an emblematic accessory of French revolutionaries. Revived from Roman times, when freed slaves used to wear it, the revolutionaries adopted it as a testimony to their values of freedom and emancipation for both men and women.
The mascot is all over the Games and the official merchandise, adorning mugs, caps, T-shirts, key rings and more.
Within just 15 minutes of the Megastore’s opening Monday on the Champs-Élysées, tourists were already lining up to snag some souvenirs.
“The appeal of the mascot is because it is an easy product to buy,” explains Edouard Bardon, the Paris 2024 Licensing Director.
“There is no size. There is no, question of it is for man or woman. You don’t care. It is something very easy and it is a good price, I think, because it’s around $32, it’s easy to take it and carry it and, put it in the suitcase. So that is a perfect product as a souvenir and for people,” he adds.
Edouard expects the games to make $108 million in revenue from sales of merchandise and official products.