Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Holy Olympic Business Heat is ON!

The opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games 2012 is on Friday, but the holy Olympic business has been going hot already for months. And now the heat is getting higher. So high, it has made the news all around the world.

The commercial side = Olympic business has become so important, that accomodating the "sponsors'" business objectives, the customers = all of us and particularly the ones who go on-site to London will need to compromize in many ways. While one would expect to have different services and products available for purchase, the "sponsors" have got a strong foothold around the games. These are the few examples that - without further deep-dive - I've heard & seen;
  • In the Olympics area you can pay only cash or Visa card, no American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard or so. Only Visa or cash. 
  • Only Coca Cola company products available.
  • McDonalds health ;o) food sold to millions of kids, teenagers and adults around the world with sports image assosiated with it - just like Coca Cola
  • Nothing related to the Olympic games or words like "Winning", "Gold", "Silver", "Bronze", "Medal" or so can be used by non-official companies in London. For example a pub called "THE OLYMPIC" had to use some paint and is called "THE _LYMPIC" during the games.
  • To enter the Olympic Park, you must pass through a mall / shopping centre
Yes, I fully understand and support the commercial rules - heck, I have made a living out of them for 20+ years - while I'd like to question the term "sponsor" used about the companies that invest some millions of Euros/Dollars to the Olympic games.

Let me say it again: They INVEST the money, they do not sponsor or donate to support a good cause. The main difference between an investment and sponsoring then???
...Well, an investment is expected to pay you back the money with extras, while sponsoring is a cost that is not expected to pay back the money.

NOTE: If I have violated the Olympic rules, I apologize. This blog is not an investment, it is a cost of time & other secondary things - sponsoring for you guys and me, to keep us entertained. With the true Olympic spirit.

Continuing that thought: Could it be that the USA basketball team has got the athletes closest to the Olympic idealism: They all have no need for any extra money, sponsors, media publicity or so. They are there to win.

With few exceptions like Usain Bolt, Ryan Giggs, Roger Federer, the rest of the participants are there doing their very best to win - and via that also try to get as much media attention to get sponsors interested and cash in to support their sports or future life after sports.

Or am I wrong...?

The Olympic heat is ON!

PS The image borrowed from a blog around the money, sports, media etc

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