A Blunder of Olympic Sized Proportions

I remember a few years ago when the bids for the 2012 Summer Olympics were being submitted and DC was in consideration. Unlike the other US cities (NYC, SF) in the running, DC didn't have the facilities to make a serious bid. I mean, really, where the heck would the stadium have been built? It would have been a logistical nightmare with bad traffic, displaced residents, and probably LOTS of crime. While I was pretty stoked about the possibility of making a killing renting my townhouse out for 3 weeks (chi-ching!) and splitting town, I think everyone realized this was a long shot. NY ended up representing the US, and lost the worldwide competition to London.

I visited Great Britain a few years ago and was rather unimpressed. Unlike other Euro-cities like Rome and Paris, which are literally dripping with history and culture, London felt a bit too American. With the exception of Big Ben and of absolute worst food on the planet, you could have mistaken the place for Houston if you didn't know any better.

With just over 5 years to get ready, the Brits are surely plugging away at throwing up new facilities and infrastructure to avoid the embarrassment that Athens endured a few years ago.

While they're on track with the buildings, they gaffed on what should have been something very, very, simple. The Olympic logo.

Most logos are simple, incorporating the 5 ring design and some simple icon of local significance. The Brits, who can't even get a simple concept like Fish and French Fries right, of course had to blow this and create something that not only looks like a bad design for a hipster t-shirt, but also is causing a rash of epileptic seizures. And they paid $900k US for this? Main Man who designs those SHOOTERS shirts could have knocked this out for $500 and a VIP pass to H2O.

Maybe DC wasn't that bad an idea after all.

Olympics Logo Triggers Epilepsy [UK Sun]