Lord Coe: Olympic fans face ban for wearing the 'wrong kind of branded clothing'.
9:18 am - 07/21/2012
Lord Coe said draconian rules are in place to protect corporate sponsors who have paid a fortune to be associated with the spectacle.
Olympic fans have been warned they could be turned away from the Games if they arrive wearing the wrong brand of clothing.
Organiser Lord Coe said draconian rules are in place to protect corporate sponsors who have paid a fortune to be associated with the spectacle.
Supporters who innocently turn up at sporting events in Pepsi T-shirts, for example, are likely to be turned away because the logos would upset Coca Cola.
And those in Nike trainers face a ban because Adidas are backing the Games.
In a fractious radio interview, Lord Coe was asked if a fan in a Pepsi shirt would be allowed in.
He replied sternly: “No.
“You probably wouldn’t be walking in with a Pepsi T-shirt because Coca-Cola are our sponsors and they have put millions of pounds into this project but also millions of pounds into grassroots sport. It is important to protect those sponsors.”
Asked about Nike trainers, the Tory peer stumbled and when pushed for an answer snapped: “Let’s put some reality in this.
"You probably would be able to walk through with Nike trainers. Does that satisfy you?”
Lib Dem peer Lord Oakeshott slammed Lord Coe’s remarks.
He said: “Most people would think it ridiculous for a child who may only have one pair of trainers to be turned away for wearing the wrong brand.”
The Locog organising committee later backtracked on Lord Coe’s remark insisting the real issue was with rival brands trying to hijack the event.
A spokesman said: “Spectators can wear any brand of trainers they want. Individuals wearing brands is fine.
"If people were to come in a large group with visible branding that is when there could be an issue.”
The dress code is just the latest barmy example of the heavy-handed approach being taken on branding in the run-up to the Games.
A cafe manager who displayed five bagels in the style of the Olympics rings was ordered to take them down by jobsworth community wardens in Southwark, South London.
A Stoke florist was told to remove paper tissue rings from her window and a butcher in Weymouth, Dorset, had to take down five rings made from sausages.
Swoosh off: The Nike symbol in Old Trafford's East stand has been altered so it looks like a white line in the seats
MEN
The Nike symbol has been altered at Old Trafford before the stadium hosts the GB Olympic football team next week.
The US sportswear giant is not one of the sponsors of the Games, so all traces of their logo are being removed from venues.
Lord Coe also defended Olympic car lanes, dubbed “Zil” Lanes after those set aside for Soviet chiefs in Communist Russia.
He said: “The famous Zil lane is actually something that takes people to work.”
And Lord Coe angrily dismissed the long delay suffered by American athletes who got lost on the way from Heathrow.
He added: “Out of 100 journeys, one driver missed a turning.”
And he said of the G4S fiasco: “Believe it or not, this is not a security event with a little bit of sporting overlay.”
Whitehall’s chief security official Charles Farr yesterday claimed the Games would be more secure as a result of the shambles.
He said: “We’ve resolved the hitch and one could argue that we’ve come out of it stronger.”
And Home Secretary Theresa May angrily denied charges that she had been “selective” over what she told MPs about the mounting problems.
Ed Miliband today urged unions not to strike on the eve of the Olympics.
Home Office staff, including immigration officials, plan walkouts that could spark chaos at ports and airports.
The Labour leader said: “I implore them not to go ahead. Nothing must be allowed to disrupt the Olympic Games.”
Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lo
OP: So you've paid a fortune for the ticket queued for hours and when you get there you can't get in because you don't 'look right'. Interestingly at a Guns N'Roses gig in the UK recently a fan had to go in bare-chested because security insisted he take a t-shirt with Slash on it off. Maybe that's where they got the idea?
Olympic fans have been warned they could be turned away from the Games if they arrive wearing the wrong brand of clothing.
Organiser Lord Coe said draconian rules are in place to protect corporate sponsors who have paid a fortune to be associated with the spectacle.
Supporters who innocently turn up at sporting events in Pepsi T-shirts, for example, are likely to be turned away because the logos would upset Coca Cola.
And those in Nike trainers face a ban because Adidas are backing the Games.
In a fractious radio interview, Lord Coe was asked if a fan in a Pepsi shirt would be allowed in.
He replied sternly: “No.
“You probably wouldn’t be walking in with a Pepsi T-shirt because Coca-Cola are our sponsors and they have put millions of pounds into this project but also millions of pounds into grassroots sport. It is important to protect those sponsors.”
Asked about Nike trainers, the Tory peer stumbled and when pushed for an answer snapped: “Let’s put some reality in this.
"You probably would be able to walk through with Nike trainers. Does that satisfy you?”
Lib Dem peer Lord Oakeshott slammed Lord Coe’s remarks.
He said: “Most people would think it ridiculous for a child who may only have one pair of trainers to be turned away for wearing the wrong brand.”
The Locog organising committee later backtracked on Lord Coe’s remark insisting the real issue was with rival brands trying to hijack the event.
A spokesman said: “Spectators can wear any brand of trainers they want. Individuals wearing brands is fine.
"If people were to come in a large group with visible branding that is when there could be an issue.”
The dress code is just the latest barmy example of the heavy-handed approach being taken on branding in the run-up to the Games.
A cafe manager who displayed five bagels in the style of the Olympics rings was ordered to take them down by jobsworth community wardens in Southwark, South London.
A Stoke florist was told to remove paper tissue rings from her window and a butcher in Weymouth, Dorset, had to take down five rings made from sausages.
Swoosh off: The Nike symbol in Old Trafford's East stand has been altered so it looks like a white line in the seats
MEN
The Nike symbol has been altered at Old Trafford before the stadium hosts the GB Olympic football team next week.
The US sportswear giant is not one of the sponsors of the Games, so all traces of their logo are being removed from venues.
Lord Coe also defended Olympic car lanes, dubbed “Zil” Lanes after those set aside for Soviet chiefs in Communist Russia.
He said: “The famous Zil lane is actually something that takes people to work.”
And Lord Coe angrily dismissed the long delay suffered by American athletes who got lost on the way from Heathrow.
He added: “Out of 100 journeys, one driver missed a turning.”
And he said of the G4S fiasco: “Believe it or not, this is not a security event with a little bit of sporting overlay.”
Whitehall’s chief security official Charles Farr yesterday claimed the Games would be more secure as a result of the shambles.
He said: “We’ve resolved the hitch and one could argue that we’ve come out of it stronger.”
And Home Secretary Theresa May angrily denied charges that she had been “selective” over what she told MPs about the mounting problems.
Ed Miliband today urged unions not to strike on the eve of the Olympics.
Home Office staff, including immigration officials, plan walkouts that could spark chaos at ports and airports.
The Labour leader said: “I implore them not to go ahead. Nothing must be allowed to disrupt the Olympic Games.”
Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lo
OP: So you've paid a fortune for the ticket queued for hours and when you get there you can't get in because you don't 'look right'. Interestingly at a Guns N'Roses gig in the UK recently a fan had to go in bare-chested because security insisted he take a t-shirt with Slash on it off. Maybe that's where they got the idea?
must it be so much of a hamfisted-clusterfuck? I actually do recall when the games were y'know, about the athletes not this ridiculous corporate wank off, with a psuedo military cherry on top.
Edit: August, not July!
Edited at 2012-07-21 06:23 pm (UTC)
That said, has the stick in the Olympic committee's collective ass been this big in previous years? I've never paid attention before. Every story I've read on their fuckery is getting more and more ridiculous.
Its amateur sport.Between this and ravelry and the rooftop missiles? I was IN vancouver when we won the bid, but had fled town long before the mayhem hit.
Wait
What
Agreed. But weirdly, Diet Coke >>>>>> Diet Pepsi.
Coke >> Pepsi.
Pepsi Max >> Coke Zero (though I do like Coke Zero)
Diet Coke/Diet Pepsi = arse.
Ridiculous.
(Bonus points for Nike, because they could claim they're legitimately chanting the name of the Greek goddess of victory.)
The Labour leader said: “I implore them not to go ahead. Nothing must be allowed to disrupt the Olympic Games.”
Oh, fuck you. Why don't you give them the wages/benefits/conditions improvement they're asking for? Or does "nothing must be allowed to disrupt the Olympic Games" only extend so far as other people are doing the paying for it?
They talk big, but once it starts causing problems in the real world, they'll give up the ghost. After all, athletes on the field will wear whatever equipment works best for them, so they can't do more to the audience than they can the athletes.
OMFG, no. Just NO. Leave the fans OUT of this war over logos and brands. Please.
This is SO stupid I cannot even get my head around it.