Oops - watch the photographer in the background

[fess67]

I saw something on the news the other day where a couple of hotels were advertising that they were going to play the Olymipcs on the big screens. They included the Olympic rings in the banner outside the hotel and were told to take them down or risk court action......you would think they would want more exposure, not less.

[WhoDo]

Ah, the Olympic spirit. Do we need any more proof that it is now a purely commercial venture? *yawn* Rick, I hope you don't get a take-down notice for this but: Olympic Games, OLYMPIC GAMES, Oh Limp Ick games!!!! We could feed the world's starving and house the world's homeless with the extravagance that is this monumental p!$$!ng contest! *sigh*

[Ezookiel]

It wasn't just people putting rings on shirts, it was even shop keepers with "rings" made from produce etc. Talk about over the top clamp downs. I'd think they'd WANT their shopkeepers to get into the whole mood and spirit of being a host Country.
Of course, I fully understand why they do, and must, clamp down on people making fake Olympic items that they are selling, and I can also understand the need to protect the footage taken, but it does seem that in some areas they've gone a bit gung-ho.

[GTP 290]

It wasn't just people putting rings on shirts, it was even shop keepers with "rings" made from produce etc.

Yeah that was the butcher that put his sausages in the shape of the olympic rings. He was told not to lay them out like that or he would face a 14'000 pound fine. Apparently if you were to enter the shopping centre directly beside the olympic grounds you would have no idea that anything special was happening (no posters, no flags, nothing olympic related) due to the laws regarding censorship of the games.

A lot of people are starting to dub this 'The Censorship olympics' with how bad everything is

[anon]

I don't remember such enthusiastic censorship during previous Olympics,
was I blissfully unaware, or is this something new?

[I @ M]

I don't remember such enthusiastic censorship during previous Olympics,
was I blissfully unaware, or is this something new?

Interesting observation.

My take is that there seems to be a distinctly high level of branding associated with this one, things like having to enter through a Westfield shopping centre so that good old Frank can make a buck and having McD's as the official "restaurant" ( huge cringe with that one ) plus all the other reported so called infringements on trademarks.

Another take on it is that with the games only happening every 4 years and the way the 'net has evolved in say the last 12 or even 8 years it is far more transparent to the likes of the non attending masses like you and I when the "stuff ups" are reported. Maybe it was easier in the days when TV was the only viewing means to distract the viewers away from such things.
As it is now we have almost instant awareness of when a badminton team tries to lose an event or when a drunken Aussie trashes a few shop windows.

This is one ( am I allowed to type olympics here with a capital O without breaching copyright? ) when I feel that commerce has totally taken over and as such it has been a total non event to watch anything at all from it.