Vancouver 2010: Logo Cops, you blew it

I am with Chris Corrigan and Johnnie Moore on this: WTF was the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee thinking with this logo?

Ummmm…the Inuit live many miles from Vancouver, despite what most residents of the United States believe. And as Chris points out, there are many vibrant native cultires in the Vancouver and Whistler/Squamish areas which would be able to present a Vancouver more closely aligned with reality than with the frozen fantasy the organizers wish to portray.
This one hits home with me even more, as my younger brother has been working closely with the organizing committee since it’s earliest days.
Nice logo; wrong message.

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4 Comments

  1. The logo is supposed to represent Canada – not Vancouver. Think about it – if the Olympics were in Spain, would the average Canadian understand the cultural/geographical differences between Northern and Southern Spain? Same thing – Vancouver or BC is not being represented – that’s too specific on a global scale.
    The logo speaks ‘Canada’ to the world.

  2. The logo speaks ‘Canada’ to the world.

  3. You can bet your bum that if the Barcelona Olympics had chosen a Basque symbol to represent them, there would have been a huge uproar in Catalan.
    But Northern Spain and Southern Spain are a few hundred miles apart. Vancouver is like 3500 miles from Iqaluit, as I said, the difference between London and Cairo, and the cultural differences are just as stark.
    Also, for the record, the Olympics are officially awarded to a city, not a country, which is why the choice of an inukshuk is not just irrelevent, but downright weird.
    Is this a global spat? Probably not. But if you are doing business in British Columbia with First Nations people, there are very important protocols to be followed. First Nations played a key role in getting Vancouver this gig, and choosing an Inuit symbol was in fact a huge slap in the face for all that help. In fact, things are very bad now with relations between the Olympic committee and First Nations and that matters because in this part of the world, ownership over land is still in question, with Aboriginal title a very real concept in law. Enterprise can happen on the public lands of BC with the consent of ancestral land holders, but cross them and do things badly and a long legal battle ensues. Just ask forestry giant Weyerhauser, among many many others.
    So it’s not a global spat, but it’s an unnecessary headache that the committe brought upon themselves, and it makes thme look foolish and brings their intentions into disrepute.

  4. But Northern Spain and Southern Spain are a few hundred miles apart. Vancouver is like 3500 miles from Iqaluit, as I said, the difference between London and Cairo, and the cultural differences are just as stark.Also, for the record, the Olympics are officially awarded to a city, not a country, which is why the choice of an inukshuk is not just irrelevent, but downright weird.Is this a global spat? Probably not. But if you are doing business in British Columbia with First Nations people, there are very important protocols to be followed. First Nations played a key role in getting Vancouver this gig, and choosing an Inuit symbol was in fact a huge slap in the face for all that help. In fact, things are very bad now with relations between the Olympic committee and First Nations and that matters because in this part of the world, ownership over land is still in question, with Aboriginal title a very real concept in law. Enterprise can happen on the public lands of BC with the consent of ancestral land holders, but cross them and do things badly and a long legal battle ensues. Just ask forestry giant Weyerhauser, among many many others. So it’s not a global spat, but it’s an unnecessary headache that the committe brought upon themselves, and it makes thme look foolish and brings their intentions into disrepute.

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