Olympics Can't Handle An Official Parody Twitter Account, So Twitter Takes It Down
from the the-official-department-of-the-2012-london-olympics dept
We've discussed a number of times how ridiculously over-aggressive the Olympics can be when it comes to anything close to an IP issue -- even to the point where it gets host cities to agree to pass exceptional IP laws that only apply to issues that the Olympics chooses. The Olympics are especially concerned with any non-sponsor brand even being seen. That means that non-sponsor brands, even if they're the brand of a toilet, will get "taped over." So you can guess at just how insanely over aggressive the Olympics can be to anyone who comes near its own marks.And that results in situations like the one where the London Olympics complained about a parody Twitter account, billed as the "official protesters of the London 2012 Olympic Games." This is obviously a joke. It's a parody on the fact that the Olympics seems to find an "official" sponsor of everything, so why not mock it using parody, which is widely seen as protected speech. But, not here. Apparently after the Games complained to Twitter, Twitter suspended the entire account and said it needs to no longer rely on trademarks, like the Olympics' logo.
Except, that defeats the whole purpose. How can you parody something when you're not even allowed to show what it is that you're parodying? Twitter is good on a bunch of issues, but on this one, it looks like it may have rushed ahead and shut down an account too quickly.
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Filed Under: london 2012, olympics, parody, sponsorship
Companies: twitter
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Who gives a shit about them anyway?
Boycott.
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PS: I know that I'm mixing Roman and Greek culture, but the joke doesn't work if I call it an Agora
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Cameron and his cabinet are already bought and paid for with ready cash bribes......
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Not just the Olympics, racing, football, tennis, baseball, basketball, swimming, athletics, boxing.
Sports are good when you do them, not to watch others do, it builds nothing when you don't practice.
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/s
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Instead, it seems that they only highlight how douchy and greedy humans can be...
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So much for Twitter "defending Internet freedom"
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Time to stop this nonsense
I remember loving the Olympics as a kid. Now, I refuse to watch a single event because of the way it's been turned into a nightmare pro-corporate festival of consumption.
In fact, if I see a company sponsoring the Olympics in any way, I go out of my way to NOT buy anything from them. There are enough companies out there to get my business. If all I can do to show my disgust what what the Olympics has become is not buy something, then that's exactly what I will do.
If the Olympics is really a "movement", then it's the kind of movement I had after my oatmeal and coffee this morning.
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Re: Time to stop this nonsense
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official
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Oh - it's Bulgaria vs. Greece. Like I give a damn about Bulgaria or Greece.
The original Olympics were about competition between athletes - not nations.
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Keep it, I can find better things to do.
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^^^ Oh and that too ^^^
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I'm OK with competitions between countries done via sport. I'm not OK with competition between corporations done via exploitation of young people. Those stars that people will be tuning in to see aren't getting a penny, but the corporations will be raking in the dough.
The Olympics has become corporatized human trafficking.
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A simple way around it ...
http://i.imgur.com/gJUHM.png
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"Merchandising! Merchandising! Where the real money from the event is made! Olympics the coloring book! Olympics the T-shirt! Olympics the breakfast cereal! Olympics the lunch box! Olympics the flamethrower! The kids love this one."
That's about all the Olympics is about these days.
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You know all those community leaders who get to carry the torch for 1/4 mile through their hometowns? If they want to keep the torch they carried (the flame is what's passed - the torches are not), they are asked to pay for the privilege. It's a revenue stream for the IOC, not a way of honoring people who've worked hard to help their community's grow stronger.
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Official Dissenting Comment of the Olympics 2012
This comment is the Official Dissenting Comment dissenting the Olympics and all it stands for. All the other comments on this blog are not official dissent and are therefore unauthorised.
Remove all the other comments or I shall refuse to host my official comment on your blog.
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Ugh. How to get a police state without anyone noticing. Bread and circuses, literally.
On a lighter note, I was amused at seeing someone's comment that their mother was praying to remove the 'evil influences of Zeus' when the Olympic torch went past. Was Zeus the main deity of the original Olympics?
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Please post on twitter support for non sponsors of the Olympics, in a way that will annoy the Olympic committee. Even better if you pick corporate giants which are not whiter than white too. E.g. "I'm drinking #Pepsi at the #london2012 Olympics" or "I'm running in my #Nike gear at #london2012"
This should annoy all concerned, and it's all perfectly legal!
possibly immature, but good fun!
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http://www.london2012.com/about-us/the-people-delivering-the-games/olympic-partners/
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Sponsors
I was prepared to support the athletes and visitors for no free, but no way on Earth was I going to work for nothing to spot things that might affect the corporate sponsors profits!
Plus, as I am disabled, I was only accepted to volunteer for the Paralympics. Well we wouldn't want a cripple spoiling the aesthetics of the 'Big Event' now could we?
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