The only way to win is not to play

Via Blood & Treasure, Kosmograd on the Olympics Brand Exclusion Zone:

In essence, London has abdicated all rights and responsibilities to the International Olympic Committee, and implemented legislation which creates radical new spatial demarcations not only within the Olympic Park, but because of the distributed nature of the Olympic venues, across the whole of central London. London has surrendered the traditional rights to the city to the demands of the Olympic ‘family’ and their corporate paymasters. What the IOC want, London will give. London will be on brand lockdown.

The most carefully policed Brand Exclusion Zone will be around the Olympic Park, and extend up to 1km beyond its perimeter, for up to 35 days. Within this area, officially called an Advertising and Street Trade Restrictions venue restriction zone, no advertising for brands designated as competing with those of the official Olympic sponsors will be allowed.

Kosmograd also mentions the “guerilla marketing” (sic) efforts by rival brands to subvert these kinds of exclusion zones, something which of us will instantly sympathise with, but which is of course just as obnoxious. In either case we’re only pawns of the branding masters and the only way to win as a people is not to play either game and just stay away from the games altogether.

Which is one reason why I’m opposed to any attempts to bring big sport events like this to the Netherlands; let them happen in Dubai or China, countries adapted to their hypercapitalism.