Changing room chat: No Olympic gig for ‘Baby Bamba’

IN THE end, Israelis didn’t want their athletes at the London Olympics this summer to be represented by a red-haired baby in a blue nappy.

Earlier this week, the Israeli Olympic Committee unveiled “Baby Bamba,” a figure advertising a popular peanut snack made by food company Osem, as the team’s mascot. But the committee and the company decided to withdraw the choice “after listening to the reactions of the public”. Critics said the mascot was undignified and a sign of commercialism taken too far.