Shao Longtu, 102, CEO of the Jiumuchuansheng advertising company, was delighted to finally find a use for some rejected sketches of a mascot for Colgate toothpaste. "We had one of our interns working on the Colgate account", Shao explained, "and he came up with the idea of a big splodge-like creature called Cavit-T, who sang a song about gum disease. Unfortunately Colgate's marketing department thought the mascot looked too much like a genital worm, and the campaign was shelved".

The drawings have been sitting in a drawer for the last six months, until the Shanghai World Expo marketing department paid a visit. "We thought we'd show them a few sketches so they knew what kind of things to avoid - but everyone really took to Cavit-T. In ten minutes we'd given him a new name, and knocked up a story about blue representing water, sea, the Earth, life, dreams, the future and technology. And indeed blueberry muffins.

Presenting the Shanghai Expo mascot: Cavit-T Haibao!