With Paris being the ‘city of love’ and all that, one can imagine that things might get a little zesty in the Olympic village this year. Let’s face it, the ‘sex ban’ allegedly imposed during Tokyo 2020 was never going to fly in France – so it’s no surprise to learn that that over 300,000 condoms have been distributed to the village this year.
Anyway, enough of all that – let’s talk packaging design. Athletes have been taking to social media to share the contents of their village ‘swag bags’ this year, and the packaging for said prophylactics is really quite something. It makes even the best Olympic logos look positively pedestrian.
While those cute Olympic mascots haven’t been the most popular addition to this year’s branding, it seems they’ve finally found their calling. Quite appropriately, too – since everybody seems to think the mascots look like clitorises. Cartoon versions of the ‘phyrges’ are accompanied by safety and consent promoting taglines like ‘You don’t have to be a gold medalist to wear it,’ and ‘on the field of love, play fair – ask for consent’.
“The packaging is quite spectacular!” Olympic Village director Daniel Smith tells People. He adds that while the condoms are distributed to the Village, they also keep them in their “athlete resource center,” which he says “is a space for athletes only and they can take as they need.”
Indeed, while the Olympics are of course a highlight for sports fans, they’re often a design extravaganza too. Not that everyone has quite managed to heed the International Olympic Committee’s strict brand guidelines this year.
