Olympic Gag Clauses

[dewline]

Go take a look-see at this:

http://bradcran.com/vancouver_verse/notes-on-a-world-class-city-why-i-have-declined-to-participate-in-the-olympic-celebrations/

Get back to me with whatever you think of it, okay?

Comments

[mariness.livejournal.com]

There's a Cultural Olympics?

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Glad to see I'm not the only one irked by the failure to include a woman's ski jumping event.

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Disney is busy removing all traces of McDonald's from their parks except at the one remaining McD's near Animal Kingdom, so I find it amusing that Vancouver librarians may be running around to put McDonald's signs up at about the same time.

But from the nonprofit point of view, I have had to deal with these corporate sponsors before in previous jobs, and their marketing/PR people do show up, and they do look to see what logos are present. I don't exactly want to point fingers at any particular cable company (hint! very large company that begins with C!) that might have been giving us a donation that had an issue with what they thought was a logo from a certain telephone company offering DSL service. Very exciting! The concern isn't just current, but future funding.

I'm kinda wondering why Home Depot pulled out as a sponsor though. And I continue to wonder why McDonald's remains one - with all due respect skiers have to eat real food.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

RONA's a locally-HQ'ed company(IE: "founded and based in Canada"), Home Depot isn't. That may or may not have had anything to do with the situation as it stands.

[mariness.livejournal.com]

No, Home Depot has also pulled out of London and Rio, and many of the athletes that were working jobs at Home Depot while training are no longer working there. I don't know the background - maybe Home Depot figured that they just weren't getting enough goodwill/publicity for their sponsorship, especially as long as NBC's Olympic coverage continues to follow the dictionary definition of "inane." I suspect basketball coverage will be beating the Olympics on many nights here.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

An interesting reveal. More than a tad distressing to hear of those athletes apparently forced to be ex-Home Depot employees in order to remain athletes. It's hard enough to be an athlete in these things as it is for far too many.

I'm guessing the only other likely issue in play here's the obvious one: cash to spare for the title of Sponsor of the Games.

[shanejayell.livejournal.com]

I am trying to ignore the Olympics entirely.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Understandable at times, that is.

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

I too am trying to ignore the Olympics. It does not help that I have friends in Vancouver -- and some of them are planning to leave town completely during the Olympics due to the problems it causes, such as traffic jams, crowds, and overbearing security.

There is something seriously wrong with the arrogance and attitude exhibited by the Powers That Be (and their bureaucratic minions) here. Since when do they have the right to make such ukases? No wonder there are going to be so many protesters come Friday.

It looks as if the tyrannists (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:List_of_protologisms_by_topic#Political_terms) have come out of the closet for this one.