Hairy Dawg and Izzy

Izzy and Hairy Dawg posing for a picture

Originally named “Whatizit” in it’s unveiling at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Izzy was the official mascot for the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta. Izzy is an odd mascot due to the fact that the design was not based on any human, animal or object, but was instead meant to be some abstract representation of the city of Atlanta (Atlanta 1996 Mascot). After heavy criticism by the public following Izzy’s introduction, the mascot was both renamed and redesigned in an attempt to make it more appealing. In 1993 the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games took suggestions from 3,200 children from 16 different countries and came up with the names Kirby, Starz, Zack, Gleamer, and Izzy. They then presented the list to 32 Atlanta children where they overwhelmingly chose the name Kirby, but that name was trademarked so the Committee went with the second most popular name: Izzy (Blau). The changes to the physical design of Izzy were replacing his lips with an entire mouth, adding stars to his eyes, and changing his once skinny legs to become more muscular and athletic (Atlanta 1996 Mascot). Despite the efforts of the Olympic Committee, Izzy was still received very poorly by the public during the 1996 Olympics garnering nicknames like “blue doofus” and “road kill” (Blau).

When Hairy Dawg was first introduced in 1980, he got a much warmer welcome than Izzy. Hairy Dawg was widely loved by the fans of the time and is still a popular mascot today. Hairy Dawg was designed by Tom Sapp to replace Georgia's previous mascot with a more intimidating character after Florida had released their new mascot earlier that season (Littlejohn). Since his introduction nearly 40 years ago, Hairy Dawg has only received minor changes to his appearance and he still continues to energize fans to this day.

“Atlanta 1996 Mascot.” International Olympic Committee, 7 Mar. 2018, www.olympic.org/atlanta-1996-mascot.

Blau, Max. “What Is It? An Oral History of Izzy, the Mascot Marketing Snafu of Olympic Proportions.” Atlanta Magazine, 12 July 2018, www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/what-is-it-oral-history-izzy-atlanta-olympics/.

Littlejohn, Brandi. “Mascot Hairy Dawg Celebrates 20 Years.” The Red and Black, 31 Aug. 2001, www.redandblack.com/news/mascot-hairy-dawg-celebrates-years/article_4ee51af6-d3ee-539d-845c-86c2b94bae0f.html.