Come on Baby Light my Fire
The entire length of the bridge taking people into the Olympic park has been covered with images of people enjoying the Olympic torch relay and... a certain brand of fizzy drink. A respected commenter pointed out yesterday that alleviating costs from the public purse should surely be a good thing. Well, yes. But I can't help but think that a soul has been sold here, and quite cheaply. You can't buy tickets if you don't have our magic card. You can't buy food if it isn't out branded goods. We ARE worth more than that. And if you are asking yourself, I can see no trace of fizzy-drink-brand here, I did have to work to take it that way.
posted by Ham at 00:02 --
Comments here: 3
Comments on "Come on Baby Light my Fire"
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imajoebob said ... (02:14) :
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Ham said ... (08:21) :
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CornishCockney said ... (10:32) :
post a commentWell, if you think a 40% VAT is preferable, more power to you. Or just come to terms with "commercialising" a multi-billion pound enterprise with the same adverts you see on every bus, every Tube carriage, every newspaper, and every television program, whose goal is to generate billions more in local business revenue and pay millionaire athletes and organisers more millions of pounds.
Or you can always hire an estate agent to rent your home for a couple weeks while you get the heck out on Holiday. Heck, in your neighbourhood you might double your annual income. Embrace the wave!
Hang on a sec - I have been a consistent supporter of the Games from day 1. My issue is not commercialisation, but over-commercialisation. I can't help but feel that too much has been handed to the sponsors, possibly for too little, although that's difficult to quantify. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britain-flooded-with-brand-police-to-protect-sponsors-7945436.html has some interesting information about the extent of enforcement. " 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." Wow.
Ultimately, the way this is being done leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Can't decide whether it's more like a glass of coke or a big mac.
Sponsoring doesn't bother me so much. What's really important are the athletes.
I think they should bering back the Games amateur status.
Let the athletes have the glory of a gold before they start earning potentially mega-buck salaries as professionals.