Olympics organisers have warned businesses that during London 2012 their advertising should not include a list of banned words, including "gold", "silver" and "bronze", "summer", "sponsors" and "London".
Almost 300 enforcement officers will be seen across the country checking firms to ensure they are not staging "ambush marketing" or illegally associating themselves with the Games at the expense of official sponsors such as Adidas, McDonald's, Coca-Cola and BP. The Olympic "brand army" will start its work with a vengeance today.
Wearing purple caps and tops, the experts in trading and advertising working for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) are heading the biggest brand protection operation staged in the UK. Under legislation specially introduced for the London Games, they have the right to enter shops and offices and bring court action with fines of up to £20,000.
The full idiocy can be read HERE.
So its a Golden opportunity for somebody to be up for the High Jump or in at the deep end. I don't think they are playing ball really are they.
ReplyDeleteWill these officials be going out in Relays. Ok ok i will stop now. Have i crossed the line.
You can't even buy a bag of chips on the Olympic Park unless they come from MacDonalds.
DeleteJeez!
They can have a look at my Olympic ring anytime. It's got the same five colours as the official version.
ReplyDeleteIt's alimentary, Stef.
DeleteAh gwan - this is an April Fool. You got the timing wrong...
ReplyDeleteYou couldn't make this up could you?
DeleteDoes this purple-clad bullshit mean that it's the end of the line for the Little Chef Olympic Breakfast?
ReplyDeleteWhat pisses me off is that the commercial sponsors chipped in 12% of the cost of these Olympics. That means we forked out 88% of it, a lot through company taxation, yet those same companies are denied any benefits.
DeleteIt'll be interesting if traders will be taken to court and see what a sensible judge will make of it.
Thought you had gone back in time to April Fools Day. How many shops are they going to have a go at when every other one in the High Street will say Summer Sale- Now On?!
ReplyDeleteI think every single shop in the UK should display the Olympic rings...
Delete"I'm Spartacus!"
:-)
As the commercial director of one of the three Official Sponsoring Blogs of the Olympic Triple Jump ( the middle bit obviously), I wholly support this initiative to protect our investment.I assume action will be taken to close down blogs whose titles are merely a blatant attempt to cash in on the popularity of events such as the 50k Race Walk !
ReplyDeleteI shall change the name of the Blog to "Alan Sloman's Big Marathon" then... oh... Hang on...
DeleteWhat it says is....
ReplyDeleteThe Olympics 2012 is all about MONEY and nothing to do with the Olympic ideal (This is from the govt perspective, not the competitors).
It also says, that we are well over budget on it, cannot really afford it since our economy is buggered, and the whole thing is a marketing exercise that has very little to do with sport.
We will never know the truth.
I love sport, but all this hype is a pile of shite!
It's been a tough day :)
It will be a relief when we finally see the athletes on the track. They don't give a stuff about sponsorship. They have focussed their lives on winning.
DeleteAnd have you seen the latest scam published by 38 Degrees about the tax exemptions these sponsors can claim.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget "we're all in this together"
It's a shame I hate McDonalds food and Coca Cola drinks because I cannot give them up as a protest!
I see McDonalds has pulled out of this tax scheme today.
DeleteCoke, McDonalds and Cadburys: That's an unholy alliance. I think we should watch the fatties who eat all this crap compete on the track. It would be more entertaining than synchronised swimming.
London Summer Olympics Sponsors Brand Bollocks
ReplyDeletebrand
verb
[with object]
1. mark with a branding iron:
the seller had branded the animal with his grandfather’s name
(Reproduced from the Online Oxford Dictionary.)
And that's why I'm staying indoors for the next few weeks - I can't stand the smell of burning hair.
:-O
You've enough problems down there without attacking your vitals with hot pokers, Stef.
DeleteI'd stay indoors and watch the beach volleyball. 'Dave' Cameron will be. He's having a tree taken down so he can have a better view from Downing Street...
Beach volleyball? Hardly. "Horse Guards Parade" volleyball would be more accurate. I hope they've swept up all the crap from the latest Trooping.
DeleteBeats me why they couldn't have arranged this event at a real beach. The sailing will be down Weymouth way, there's plenty of sand there that doesn't need to be shipped in and then shipped back out.
It's alleged that the Government has spent £26,000 on 400 beach volleyball tickets. I thought they were skint!
At first I was sure you were joking Alan, this is the biggest load of bollocks I've ever come across - and I wouldn't normally use that word!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Bob Andrews who says: "It's a shame I hate McDonalds food and Coca Cola drinks because I can't give them up as a protest!" Ditto, and I don't wear Adidas either, and may never do after this fiasco.
Oh, it's just dawned on me, I think I used the word 'summer' in my latest Blog posting. I'd better get back there - quick!
Hi Gordon
Delete:-)
I have been known to guzzle the odd McDonalds and wash it all down with Coke - in fact I quite like it now and again! The thing is these companies thrive on getting the same people through their doors time after time. That's why our nation is now the second fattest in Europe, only just behind Austria. We passed the Germans a few years ago.
Unbelievably, I would have to put on 3 stones and 4 lbs just to get to the average BMI for my age in England. The blame for this massive increase in weight can be laid fairly and squarely at the doors of companies like Coca Cola, McDonalds and Cadburys.
There'll be a dawn knock on both our doors for today's subversion. Unless dawn knocking duties have been sub-contracted to G4S - in which case we'll be asked to consider signing up as volunteers.
ReplyDeleteGood to see the Home Office didn't allow their judgement to be clouded by all those prisoner escapes in the bad old days of Group 4. Many more problems and they may have to consider another change of name and a new corporate logo; that's how serious things are.
I wonder if we'll get our own cells? I want one with those nice padded walls and floors. So "this year". The lunatics are running the asylum.
DeleteHow many G4S security men does it take to change a lightbulb?
DeleteFour soldiers and a policeman.
I'm not sure that the word "summer" is one that a company would want to be associated with this year anyway, although I did see a pack of Kingsmill bread rolls with "2012 Summer celebration pack" written on it.
ReplyDeleteByeways mentioned G4S. I see their mess up could cost them £50M. Meanwhile the CEO could get the push with £21M to see him on his way. Poor chap......
Alan, it's a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world. I should give up on the grumpy old man comments, you'll make yourself ill. Post some soothing photos from the TGOC instead.
John
Indeed. Amen to all that!
DeleteNormal 'happy-clappy' service will be resumed as soon as possible!
:-)
You really couldn't make it up, could you? Unless Kurt Vonnegut has somehow been re-animated.
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteA KV story would be less unbelievable...
Last night my son Cameron (and the rest of his class) finished primary school with the musical "Start", about the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteMr.C. (aka Cameron) collected Olympic trivia and bought the stolen Olympic torch.
We wondered why this strange man with purple cap was peeping through the school windows.
:-)
DeleteThey are even having a go at tiny little florist shops over here;
LINK
I think every shop in Britain should display the rings and then let LOCOG decide if it's worth suing the entire nation of shopkeepers.
I always love the fact that lawyers for these, um . . . entities . . . always use the phrase "Our client will jealously guard their copyright, etc etc"
ReplyDeleteJealousy is such a petty and shabby emotion. But it's resposible for a ton of pain.
Indeed Humpleberry!
DeleteWell said Sir.
I noticed today that G4S has a sign up saying Welcome to the G4S London Olympic Games. Surely they can't be sponsors they owe us millions. I wonder what these officers will make of that.
ReplyDeleteWe should get the select Committee to tear into them again.
DeleteI watched that on the box as it was happening. I thought it was rich that MP's were tearing into a bloke that had cocked up and had had the balls to admit it straight away. I thought the MP's had something to learn there...
Not defending G4S but the MP's really have no shame.
I hope the olympics will be great this time.
ReplyDelete