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By James Toney, Managing Editor
ADRIAN Chiles must feel a bit like the fifth Beatle or the man who turned down Fawlty Towers being too cliched.
INFLATED: What were they? Who cares because Beijing's Olympic mascots - dubbed the Friendlies - were a marketing success. What will London 2012 come up with (Getty Images)
His seat on The One Show is still warm and now they've secured themselves a world exclusive to really be proud about, according to BBC's Olympics boss Roger Mosey.
Tomorrow - to an expectant nation - the name and design of London 2012's mascot or mascots will be revealed.
World Cup Willie, the face of 1966 and the first ever sporting event mascot, will finally have a rival - unless you are watching Emmerdale.
In truth, many London 2012 officials would have rather revealed their offering somewhere less high profile - maybe on Radio 4's Farming Today, or perhaps even Chiles's new home at GMTV.
After the furore that surrounded the unveiling of their controversial logo, Locog are braced for a backlash in blogosphere and a pillorying in the press.
The design and name of the mascot remains known to only a chosen few, including IOC president Jacques Rogge, who have taken a vow of secrecy more akin to a papal conclave.
But this is a damned if you do, damned if you don't moment for Seb Coe and his team.
Mascots will play a major role in London's bid to hit their ambitious £70 million licensing and merchandising target.
And who cares if I like it, providing my two-year old does?
"Fun and games aside, the mascot programme will be a key component of our licensing plan and will be a strong revenue driver as we seek to raise the £2bn required to stage a Games in 2012," said London 2012 commercial director Chris Townsend.
But come Games time don't expect them to have much visibility around venues - unless you count the Olympic Store.
The days of a giant inflatable bear (Misha, Moscow 1980) floating around during an opening ceremony are long gone.
Olly, Syd and Millie - the kookaburra, platypus and echidna -from the Sydney Games were conspicuous by their absence throughout, as were the ‘Friendlies' from Beijing, who looked like they'd been designed by the creator of Teletubbies and In the Night Garden after coming down from a hallucinogenic high that would land you in serious trouble with WADA.
After unveiling their mascot, the next big decision London 2012 will get slammed for is their motto.
Putting aside those cynics who claim that ‘higher, busier, costlier’ would be appropriate, it remains one of the most important branding exercises that Lord Coe's Locog will undertake.
Recent Olympic history gives some interesting precedents, Beijing had ‘One World, One Dream’ while Turin came up with the vague but Olympian sounding ‘Passion Lives Here’.
I liked the understated ‘Welcome Home’ from Athens while Salt Lake City – plagued by corruption scandals – deserves a B plus for ‘Light the Fire Within’ - fire, Olympic torch, geddit?
Vancouver 2010 used the Canadian national anthem as the inspiration for ‘With Glowing Hearts’ and ‘Des Plus Brilliant Exploits’.
If London’s international reputation for squelchy summers comes true in 2012, I’m suggesting (no need for a trademark, this one is yours pro bono Seb) - ‘Long to RAIN over us’.
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