The Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games launched the call for proposals to select the mascot for the Olympic Games and another for the Paralympic Games. Essential to the spectator experience, the mascot reflects the host country identity and culture, and will be announced to the public around two years prior to the Games, during the second half of 2014. The mascots are important message transmission vehicles for the worlds largest sports event, especially for children and young people. The process will receive consulting support from the Anima Mundi company and the final prize will be 50 thousand Brazilian Reais. The call for proposals is available online at: http://www.rio2016.com/comite-organizador/bens-e-servicos. The idea in opening a selection process is to value the Brazilian animation, film and design market and encourage creativity to develop the best ideas. The theme is open. The creative proposal that best responds to the target public, children and young people, will be selected, explains Brand Director Beth Lula. Only Brazilian professionals and companies can compete. With the selection process, in which only Brazilian professionals and companies may participate, the Committee hopes to give impetus to the national market through a vote of confidence in the ability to create and develop characters. Self-employed individuals may also participate, as long as they are associated with a company, like animation or film production companies, design agencies, advertising and illustration studios. The goal is that both the Olympic and Paralympic mascots are aligned with the pillars of Rio 2016 and the values of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement. In phase one, legal and technical qualification, companies must present the necessary documentation and portfolio. 30 candidates will be selected for phase two and a proposal development briefing meeting will be held. For phase three, a maximum of ten proposals will be selected, and these will be adjusted and developed with the Rio 2016 team. Then, the proposals will be sent for research to see if they are in synch and aligned with the briefing. In this way, the proposals which reach phase four will be formatted so that the jury can access the best proposals. Selection of the winner must be unanimous. In commercial terms, Rio 2016 estimates that the mascots will represent approximately 25% of licensed products sales.