'100 Metre Dash' in Stokes Croft, Bristol 11/09/2011 by Criminal Chalkist

Welcome to London 2012: Brand Exclusion Zone

I’ve been blogging and talking about my unhappiness of what’s going down in London 2012, and will talk about this more in the next podcast, up shortly.

But this blog post talks about the Brand Exclusion zone where not only advertising by non-sponsors isn’t allowed but:

This will be supported by preventing spectators from wearing clothing prominently displaying competing brands, or from entering the exclusion zone with unofficial snack and beverage choices. Within the Zone, the world’s biggest McDonald’s will be the only branded food outlet, and Visa will be the only payment card accepted.

Looking at the maps it’s not just at the venues – the 1km or so perimeter covers homes, streets, public spaces. I almost wish I had a home in the ‘Exclusion Zone’ – I’m sure you could have a lot of fun putting various non-brands in the window, anti-Olympics or political signs, or ‘selling the space’ and seeing if the IOC stopped it.

I don’t think it’s so much defending your right to wear a Pepsi shirt at an Olympic Volleyball match, well I don’t give a fig about that. More that corporates in defending their own copyrights and paid-for spaces are increasingly enclosing public spaces to do that, and policing them in an over the top manner that Kim Dot Com would know about. Starting to think the next world war won’t be about religion as I first thought, but copyright infringement.

And also I probably don’t need to remind you that such laws against ‘ambush marketing’ and controlling what people do, wear and eat can just as much be used to quell protest.

Ad in more Olympic Crazy – Cornish torchbearer had Cornish flag ripped out of their hands because it’s a ‘political symbol’? Way to go making yourselves really popular in Cornwall, guys and girls – I hope you back out quickly while keeping your back to Devon because the Cornish do not like outsiders pulling stunts like that. I wonder if they’ll do that for the Welsh, English and Scottish flags too – but I doubt it.
via Null Device

It seems more and more to do what Banksy suggests is less an outlet for bored teenagers and more of a political stance, as corporates try and buy as much of your space as they can get away with:

Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.

Comments

3 responses to “Welcome to London 2012: Brand Exclusion Zone”

  1. nasrin avatar
    nasrin

    this painting painted by who?!!!!!

    1. Tim avatar

      It’s in the Alt/Title tag for the image – ‘100 Metre Dash’ in Stokes Croft, Bristol 11/09/2011 by Criminal Chalkist

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