Logo of Paris 2024 Games. Photo from official @Paris2024 Twitter
The new 2024 Olympics logo is supposed to evoke French history but has instead earned ridicule online for its apparent resemblance to a stereotypical Parisian woman.
Unveiled on Monday, the design incorporates the art deco style in vogue the last time Paris hosted the Games in 1924, depicting an Olympic flame within a gold medal.
It also incorporates the lips and outline of Marianne, the personification of liberty and the French Republic since the revolution of 1789 — an addition that some mocked for adding an unnecessarily seductive character to the motif.
“The French Olympic logo tumbles out of bed on a Parisian morning,” wrote Paris-based journalist Megan Clement on Twitter.
“She tousles her messy bob, dons breton stripes and ballet flats and whisks down the stairs from her fifth-floor apartment to grab a baguette before enigmatically texting two men who are pursuing her romantically.
“(She) has an expresso and a cigarette for lunch. She hops on a vintage bicycle and pedals past the Eiffel Tower on her way to a cafe where she will sit and read Baudelaire with her fluffy white dog at her feet.”
Others compared the flame motif to the logo of dating app Tinder and suggested the silhouette of Marianne brought to mind the retro hairstyle made popular by Jennifer Aniston in the American sitcom “Friends”.
“The artist’s muse, the poet’s dream, and the girl your mother warned you about. She’s fashionably late for everything. She’ll make out with your husband at a party and then wonder why you’re mad,” said one Twitter user.
“I want to follow the French Olympic logo on Instagram,” wrote another.
Parisians got their first glimpse of the new logo when it was unveiled at the French capital’s famous Grand Rex cinema on Monday.