Cherryflava

World Cup 2010 branding: Meet Zakumi – the Rasta leopard

Posted on 23. Sep, 2008 by Jonathan Cherry in Branding

Mascots for things like the Olympic Games and World Cup tournaments are an important part of the event’s branding and usually turn out to be big money spinners for the host country [...and the Chinese factories that rip off the design and sell millions of fakes].

Last night, the local organising committee revealed Zakumi – the friendly football loving leopard with dreads.

The name Zakumi is a composition of "ZA", standing for South Africa,
and "kumi, which translates to "10" in various languages across Africa.

Damn it. We had 50 bucks on Vodacom’s Mo reinventing himself to take on the role of 2010 mascot.
This creature looks a bit like David Beckham at a fancy dress, but as far as fluffy toys go – nice one.

More: World Cup mascot introduced to SA – M&G