This is going to be an interesting one. The logo for the London Olympics in 2012 was unveiled on Monday and it has met almost universal disdain. And for good reason – look at it – it’s hideous. Or perhaps grotesque is a better word. Anyway, the BBC has a poll on it where at the time of writing 74.04 percent of the 21,019 voters have voted to give it the “wooden spoon” rather than gold, silver or bronze.
Or far more interest though is this online petition on GoPetition.com which has already attracted nearly 40,000 signatures from people agreeing with the statement that the logo is “an embarrassment” and should be “dropped as soon as possible”. The signatures are going in at the rate of roughly 30 a second. If this petition hits 100,000 it will make the news, and the London Olympics Committee has already taken the stance that it won’t budge. But if it hits 500,000 then it would have little choice but to scrap it.
I think the survey will hit 150,000 or so and cause some problems, possibly with a couple of MPs seeing their chance to get on the tele. If Ken Livingstone then comes out against it, it could be doomed. Be interesting viewing for a week or so.
Update: The BBC has run a series of alternative suggested logos sent in by readers – some are good (certainly much better that the graffiti monstrosity above), some are funny.
» London Olympics logo going to face the wrath of Net democracy
June 6, 2007 at 11:49 am[…] Original post by Kieren […]
Leo
June 6, 2007 at 1:20 pmThe official logo is one of the most ugly designs I’ve seen for a long time. The BBC’s user generated content competition came up with a number of better designs in just a few minutes. But as always, B3ta has come up with the best commentary.
Graeme
June 7, 2007 at 10:43 amI didn’t like it at first, but having seen the BBC alternate designs, I’ve been won round to the opinion that the majority of the British public really can’t design something better. And as far as brand awareness goes, they couldn’t have done more to get the image into the public consciousness in a matter of days if they had tried to. Or did they plan it all along?
Kieren
June 7, 2007 at 12:31 pmI love this one: http://www.b3ta.com/board/7253564
Kieren
Kieren
June 7, 2007 at 12:37 pmYeah, but the point remains that the logo is bloody awful.
I bet Mad Seb and his team are wandering around telling each other “people will learn to love it”. But they won’t. For one, it is pink. Two, it is barely legible. Three, it looks shit.
The fact that everyone knows it’s awful doesn’t make it any less awful.
Personally, I think Seb Coe might be a control-freak idiot. Every aspect of the bid and the games that has caused complaints has had him behind it. I wonder if his status as such a great athlete in his day can keep the press from printing what is probably alot of dirt on the man.
Kieren
Ed
June 7, 2007 at 1:36 pmThe BBC poll was originally at 90% giving it the wooden spoon, but it suddenly lost thousands of votes and that went down to 5%. I emailed the BBC to point this out, here’s what they said:
So, I’d seriously take that poll with a healthy pinch of salt 🙂
'Green' Olympics are a joke | olympics
June 12, 2007 at 4:49 am[…] The logo for the London Olympics in 2012 was unveiled on Monday and it has met almost universal disdain. And for good reason – look at it – it s hideous. Or perhaps grotesque is a better word. Anyway, the BBC has a poll on it where at … …Sportzia More […]
Dave Lee
June 21, 2007 at 6:54 pmRemember that the logo comes in several colours — not just pink.
But that’s besides the point. I think this logo says more about the British public than it does about British designers. The uproar is just comical. It’s rubbish, yes, but you’ve got people on the BBC saying it makes them ashamed to be British. I mean come on. What a bunch of drama queens.
Lets divert our attentions to making the Games as successful as possible, hmm?
Kieren
June 21, 2007 at 7:45 pmI don’t think it matters what colour it is – it will always be horrible.
I don’t buy your comment about the British public at all. Since when has a talking head *ever* been representative of the wider public. That’s just journalism. If you have someone saying “I don’t like” and another saying “it makes me ashamed to be British” – which footage do you use?
I don’t think we need to divert our attention at all. It’s not as if a logo has anything to do with run an Olympic Games. An Olympic Games also comprises of tens of thousands of different elements. A logo is but a tiny, tiny element of it.
But it is an important part from the view of the public. And the public don’t like the logo. Answer: kill the logo.
Kieren