All glory to
$ZOICH.
Zoich was created by Egor Zhgun in 2010, prior to his well known contributions to
@telegram's official stickers.
During an official competition to select a mascot for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, Egor submitted Zoich and uploaded what would end up becoming his first viral YouTube video. Zoich was voted first within minutes with 24,000 entries across Russia.
It was later found out that Zoich was used as a "guerilla marketing campaign" by the Sochi Olympic Committee to go viral. The frog indeed, went viral.
As all iconic memes do, Zoich's message spread in unexpected ways. It took off as a symbol of opposition, as an emblem protesting Russian corruption in the lead-up to the Sochi games. Zoich was widely recognized especially among young opposition activists who were in the midst of massive protests against the Putin-led government.
A few years after Zoich was created, Egor started working with Telegram and created countless characters and art that shape its culture today.
One can't help but wonder if
@durov was inspired by Zoich early on, and if Egor and Telegram would have ever crossed paths without the frog.
Official Links π΅
TG:
t.me/ZoichonTonOfficial
Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoich
YouTube video:
youtu.be/R926UJw7Kac?si=rTJ8β¦
CA: EQC-hAwmSVgJ7iDUPc045FB3HISsPjaVReakE_OA7YxPnpmD