Knock-off Fuwa sighted outside Beijing

Despite BOCOG's best efforts, the Fuwa, those five cute mascots of the 2008 Olympics, have been widely pirated.

Xixu, a blogger on the anime group blog acgtalk, noticed a particularly egregious example over the Qingming Festival during a spring outing in Yungang, on the outskirts of Beijing.

Here's a translation of the photo-essay that resulted.

Two days ago came the great day in which we first got a look at what the "May 1 Castration Plan" victory had won us: a public holiday for the Qingming Festival. I went for a spring outing on the outskirts of Beijing with three of my friends from the Beijing suburbs. In light of the fact that I was used to walking on asphalt while they live outside the city, I didn't have much hope for the "physical fitness" end of this so-called activity, but I was more confident about lunch and dinner, so I decided not to back out.

Waiting for the bus, I noticed that the West Station was covered in black netting; most likely it was getting its face "done up" to greet the Olympics. The vast majority of Beijing is forever improperly dressed, so if it's not "done up," it can't show its face anywhere. Of course, lots of things can't show their face even if they get "done up." And some independent-minded people don't get "done up," and they choose not to show their faces. Because of the Olympics, however, those clamoring foreigners will force us to show our faces; the Olympic hostesses have begun to learn how to walk all over again, the women in the Hutongs are studying English as if their life depended on it. But I'm looking to hide away somewhere outside the city when the Olympics come.....On the one hand afraid of embarrassing myself, on the other afraid my eyes'll be opened.

Back to our topic at hand: after our outing, we looked for a place to eat, and saw a marvelous thing. This magical being is so popular that the whole world knows about it; before my eyes it was incomparably "magical, fantastic, dazzling in the air"—yes, it could fly!

I could hardly believe my eyes—Fuwa Nini? Could it really be you? That flirtatious glance, those seductive red lips, er....is that a tongue? But...what's with the microphone?

All day today, my thoughts have been fixed on the Olympics! Is this some sort of aftereffect of my spring stroll? D**n it, I'm never going to exercise again. The Fuwa are already old news. After those five unfortunate kids were cooked up by some "old artist," they've basically never had a day of rest. First they were soiled by netizens: made into soldiers, assassins, slash characters, Transformers....no need to say any more. Even worse was how they were used for purposes that weren't rooted in parody: folk artists, major corporation, and various levels of government adapted the Fuwa, the most influential of course being the mighty cartoon The Fuwa Olympic Cruise, which is heavily promoting its second series! However, why do the Fuwa have white bellies? Isn't promoting the Olympics their basic reason for appearing? Or is there some other kind of moe at work here?

Without this logo:

a Fuwa is just an oddly-dressed vagrant!

The following photo shows a few gigantic Fuwa who've made the same mistake. They've appeared on their own in public without the official Logo—this doesn't make a good impression.

And the title for this image is "XX City Erects Fuwa Statues." I must ask in all seriousness, "First, these Fuwa have no identity card, so we don't know if they're real or fake. Second, these are obviously inflated, so how can they be called statues? Truly, this is failed a effort on the part of the XX municipal government!"

Things come in pairs, or by threes. The following is a commercial event, and the Fuwa logo is still evident, only it's been moved from its conspicuous position at the center of the abdomen to a pitiful location at the lower-left:

Which naturally leads one to imagine....of course the Olympics are being held to honor Yili Dairy! The Fuwa were unaware at this time that instead of common vagrants, they're now corporate spokespersons who stink of money—no, of milk! The fundamental issue has changed!

But in any event I'm not some great sentimentalist concerned with the fate of the nation. What I care most about are the destructive attacts on the Fuwa, especially Nini, by folk artisans! First are the grand-sounding Fuwa sachets given "free" to primary school students:

Though the artistry is frightful, with highly obvious deviations from the original design, I still have to voice my respect in light of the fact that this is a public service performed by a retired worker! And the student in the photo who received the gift looks really happy about it!

The final point is that inflated Nini I saw on my spring outing. Let's compare the two:

vs.

1. The swallow wings on its head are the wrong color!
2. The swallow in the middle is the wrong color!
3. Nini's missing two light-colored dots on her head!
4. The cloud-like things below the swallow wings have vanished!
5. The black hat band has turned brown!
6. A shine has been added to the eyes. How clever!
7. A shine has been added to the nose, but it still seems okay!
8. The mouth is open! Or its tongue is sticking out!
9. Who knows where it stole the microphone from!
10. The position of the five-rings and the Beijing Olympic logo have been switched!
11. Wait! That's not the Olympic logo! You're...you're not Nini! Who are you!

Reportedly, near the Drum Tower there's a store that's an exclusive dealer in fake Fuwa-related products...did this guy make his way from there to Yungang? That's a scary amount of willpower!

Evidently, Nini and some Ninis who aren't really Nini are no longer traveling the same road....but there's one I can't help but wonder about this mascot upon which the State has lavished its praise: what's the point of its existence?

The only conclusion I have at the present time is: making trouble!

The original article and this translation are covered by Creative Commons.

This article is from Danwei.org

Read the complete post at http://www.danwei.org/2008_beijing_olympic_games/fake_fuwa.php