Australia Accidentally Commissions Furry Art For Tokyo Olympics

In the land down under, Woolworths and Australia's federal government have teamed up to release a new line of anthropomorphic animal mascots to promote the upcoming Olympics to children. As anyone who has been on the internet for more than fifteen minutes can tell you: these are furries.

So, the Olympics are soon, how is your country trying to drum up national pride?

Well here in Australia, supermarket chain Woolworths (Woolies) is having a collectable sticker series for kids to collect of our athletes with 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙩𝙨?! pic.twitter.com/JLWBdMbGYB

— Bluey (@bluedingo) July 9, 2021

Bro these woolies mascots go hard pic.twitter.com/cAdADQ29OJ

— 🍃 Button 🌸 (@ButtonPanduh) July 7, 2021

No more info on who actually drew them, but the paralympic mascot is this badass australia shaped lizard. pic.twitter.com/jD8ydtp4v2

— The Prawnisher (@SecretPrawnPage) July 8, 2021

So, what the heck happened here? Turns out, they aren't intentionally furry art. The Australian government commissioned artist Landeg, who is not themselves a furry artist, to create "anime style" characters, as Japan has been using anime characters to promote the Olympics.

Landeg told Junkee that after Australia's the Royal Australian Mint (RAM) accepted their portfolio, they requested anthropomorphic characters. Mix "anime style" with "anthropomorphic characters" and you get: furry art.

"To be clear, they knew exactly what they wanted -- we worked together to make sure they got what they envisioned, I tailored what I made to their examples/feedback -- they just didn’t know there was a word for it, basically, or that it was SO popular," said Landeg.

hey fellow aussies, the fursonas I was commissioned to draw by the government are now on sale in booklet form for $3 at woolies. I am no longer jazzed for the olympics theyre attached to due to the global plague we're all living through but what can you do. Send tweet

— am i a one piece blogger? (@SailorFailures) July 14, 2021

Ultimately, while many online have seen the kind of faces Landeg drew with some monstrous genitalia attached to them, Landeg's art is very SFW if your mind hasn't already been corrupted.

"The mascots are just fun, cartoon characters, and if your kids like them, that’s great!" they said. “It just so happens that there’s a big group of other people who also like these kinds of characters a whole lot, a bit like My Little Pony."