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Paper Mistakes 'Pedobear' for Olympic Mascot

Cartoon bear is associated with pedophilia, not sports

By Emily Rauhala,  Newser User

Posted Feb 9, 2010 9:14 AM CST

(Newser) – From the fact-checking department: When publishing an image of Olympic mascots, check to make sure there's not a cartoon bear with ties to pedophilia mixed in. A Polish paper made just such a mistake, accidentally lifting the meme known as "Pedobear"—widely used to mock pedophiles—from Google Images and popping him into a collage of the other mascots of the Vancouver Games.

The cartoon bear was originally devised by a Canadian graphic designer, apparently to protest the cost of the Games. Members of an anarchic message board then adopted it.

'Pedobear,' far right, is not an official Vancouver Olympics mascot. Oops.
'Pedobear,' far right, is not an official Vancouver Olympics mascot. Oops.   (screenshot)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 26 comments
CyberSkull
Feb 21, 2010 10:57 AM CST
I'm quite sure you got the origin of Pedobear wrong. It's been around for years and years.
Nannu
Feb 21, 2010 8:51 AM CST
HAHAHA, pedobear!
lolwhut
Feb 21, 2010 5:42 AM CST
Pedobear wasn't made by a Canadian, you dumbass. Pedobear was originated by the Japanese. The "theory of origin" for Pedobear is that he was a safety mascot for crossing the street safely in Japan. He would hold children's hands while helping them across the street, hence "pedo" = walking/pedestrian/etc... think "pedometer" ...but "pedo" meaning something also highly different elsewhere just went hand in hand with Pedobear holding hands with kids, thus creating him being a pedophile bear. This article is a fail in and of itself for the author not even bothering to look up Pedobear's origin. Idiot.
 

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