One of the two manufacturers holding the license had already sold more than 1.4 million units before the end of the Paralympic Games, and hopes to continue riding its popularity after the summer.
“I couldn’t imagine finishing the summer without my souvenir Phryge!” As if she had fallen back into her childhood, Sarah, all smiles, hugs the stuffed animal she adopted at the official Paris 2024 store, at the bottom of the Champs-Élysées. Weightlifter, surfer, party girl, dancer… In just a few weeks, the mascot has established herself as the star of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, of which she has become an unforgettable and amusing icon. Naturally, she is flying off the shelves in stores.
Marie, who is hesitating in front of the different models at the megastore on the Champs, has come to get two stuffed animals for her grandchildren. They will be two medium-sized ones, in a Paralympic version, with the prosthetic leg and the Agitos drawn on the belly. Behind her, two uniformed gendarmes are taking a break to do their shopping… their hands full of Phryges. Charles, a young Parisian, also wanted “keep a memory” of this enchanted parenthesis, and he didn’t see what else to take than the little red mascot. “She is the symbol of the Games.”
350.000 peluches «made in France»
“Sales took off after the Olympic opening ceremony on July 26 and have only grown.”rejoices Alain Joly, president of Doudou et compagnie, one of the two manufacturers holding the plush toy license. He himself “surprised” due to the craze surrounding the mascot, he sold 1.4 million Phryges before the end of the Paralympic Games, including 350,000 made in France – the others are made in Asia. At Gipsy Toys, the other license holder, they claim to have been “number one in sales in hypermarkets and supermarkets” with the classic 15 centimeter model.
Paris 2024, however, triggered very early on – from the start of the Paralympic Games – aggressive promotions on stuffed animals, sold off at -50% in official stores. Alain Joly would have preferred that it not come to this so quickly, “to better promote the product”. Nevertheless, the operation boosted sales… And made some people happy, like this school group passing through the Champs boutique after a test, where the children were delighted to find soft toys for 10 euros instead of 20. “Just what my parents gave me!”
If the Olympic Phryge was acclaimed, its Paralympic counterpart was also “very well priced”says Alain Joly, who observes a “a real favorite of the French” for this version with a leg prosthesis. Manufacturers are still counting on riding the wave of “Phryge mania” for a few months after the Games are over, at least to clear their stock. They would even like to put some back on the market, if demand continues. Determined to prove to us that she is not just a summer love that fades away when the new school year starts, the Phryge is not ready to bow out.
