The other lion.

The Cannes Lion is perhaps the most widely sought-after Lion-like thing in the world. The Lion known as Goleo, the World Cup Mascot Lion, apparently isn’t. According to The Guardian: The company that has the rights to produce them has already gone bust after ‘less than enthusiastic take-up.’ What’s more “German mothers groups have reportedly branded his lack of shorts indecent and boycotted the mini mascots on sale…. the mascots contain a deadly hormone… and to top it all… the lion has endured a barrage of innuendo over his relationship with his sidekick Pille, a talking football.” He’s shown here languishing on the shelves in a Frankfurt airport souvenir shop. I see what they mean about the football. Apparently in an attempt to stem the bad publicity FIFA arranged for an interview with ‘the piece of felt’ and Goleo himself had this to say: "When I consider our relationship, I think, like Woody Allen said about married couples: 'They try to solve problems together that they would never have had apart.'" You could not make this up.