By Comparison … London’s Already Ambivalent Olympics
I spent most of the last week in London and didn’t see one London 2012 Olympic concession. Not one. Not even a concession parked in the back of some other kind of concession. This afternoon I wandered into London Heathrow’s duty-free sporting goods shop, but they just shook their heads when I asked. I then wandered over to the duty-free British knick-knack shop, and the shop clerk looked at me like I was nuts. “A little early for that, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” I answered. “Perhaps it is.” What I didn’t tell her was that by this point four years ago, China was positively flooded with Beijing 2008 merchandise. In fact, if I recall correctly, in the immediate aftermath of Athens 2004, the Olympics merchandising machine was shifted into full production. And it wasn’t just merchandise, either. The Dancing Beijing logo was already ubiquitous in supermarkets, on bill boards, even on my phone bill. (more…)