Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Owelympic off-sales



The city of Vancouver is already home to over 600 billboards but I don't recall hearing much fuss about it till the Squamish Nation submitted plans to erect a further six on First Nations land to raise some much needed Owelympic advertising dollars for their community.
Please. If you're already ok with the existing 10' by 18' LED appeals to your fondest shopping desires, then you'll surely also be able to handle these.
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What I'm wondering though is what will be going up on those six FN billboards?
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Vanoc has spent $40-million to buy up all the public advertising space around the city in order to guarantee exclusive Owelympic branding rights to the corporations who have paid for it.
They even got Gordo to push for a law allowing municipal workers to remove what they call "ambush marketing" from your home should you suddenly feel moved to display a massive Kool Aid logo in your livingroom window between Feb 1st and March 31st.
So will "ambushers" be buying up space on those FN electronic billboards?
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Personally I'm hoping there'll be room on them for a few community messages as well. I know I've got mine ready.
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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Remember the hugely popular 'Church Sign Generator' on the old internets?
hmmm . . there might be room for some games of net tag to be had.

West End Bob said...

No doubt you have a repertoire of hundreds, Lady Alison.

The one you've got on this post rather says it all . . . .

Zee said...

The Olympics are about enchantment, tears and joy. It isn't possible for anyone to get this stuff right no matter how many times they try. Relax and enjoy it for fuck sake!

CanNurse said...

Alison, I am sharing this link, which I read this a.m., just in case you hadn't come across it. Oddly enough, it's not in any MSM outlets as I write. I am absolutely appalled, & since you're writing about the Owelympics (love it!) you might be interested in this!

"OIC receives Official Observer Status at the UN General Council"
http://genevalunch.com/2009/10/20/ioc-receives-observer-status-at-un/

Anonymous said...

Get it right? Srsly? They already are getting it right. It's a real estate scam with a side-order of acclimatizing us to the militarization of our city. We will be paying this off for years and years while Gordon Campbell uses it as an excuse to make more cuts into public infrastructure and back further away from his fake environmental stance on the grounds we can't afford it.

You think this is just about going really fast on snow and ice?

Tuttle

Anonymous said...

while i don't agree with having the signs, a squamish sister told me they are doing it for the money.....it will bring in millions at a time when the squamish nation are lacking the money to build more housing.

the squamish are doing it in conjunction with Montreal-based Astral Media Outdoor....the rent will be split between the two.

i'm interested to see if they put the squamish logo on the signs or not....after all, they have now changed their website to say their lands are unceded .....there are a growing number who support sovereignty so this is almost a 'kill two birds with one stone' possibility.

their website , squamish.net says,
"We have never ceded or surrendered title to our lands, rights to our resources or the power to make decisions within our territory."

my response has been "there are better ways to make money".

in the end it's their business, not mine, though i can still hold opinion.

Anonymous said...

PS: Alison, I think you're forgetting Chief Gibby Jacob is on the VANOC board. Kool Aid signs unlikely.

Tuttle

Alison said...

Tuttle : Um, yeah, I did forget. Hey, look at the neato graphic!

Scout : in the end it's their business, not mine, though i can still hold opinion
Yeah, that's what I thought too.
I read Toby Baker said if they had some other way of making the money, they'd do that instead. I just think it's a crock for people in North and West Van to function as some sort of Olympic glee club and then get pissy about six billboards.
Pete McMartin said it better.
I linked to a pic of what they'll look like - totally Jetsons.

CanNurse : Since you posted -GlobalTV :
"Canada recognizes the power of sport to build sustainable communities, to advocate for equality, to foster social inclusion among young people and to contribute to a global culture of peace," said John Furlong, head of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Games, as he addressed the General Assembly on behalf of Canada."
Gak! Well, fine, the IOC can sit with the IMF, the Vatican, and the PLO.
Wonder what the strategy was behind Canada declining to sponsor them?

Zee : Owelympics will finish what Expo started. It's more than just a nuisance; it's a menace.

Bob : I'm thinking a variation on mixed up letters like Farty Towels.

Anon : Church sign generator! I'll be needing that to post Owey updates. "Furlough as I walk through the valley of debt ..."

Alison said...

Drat! - "Fur long though I walk through the valley of the shadow of debt..."

Hey CanNurse! A possible answer to why Canada did not support the IOC bid for UN status :

CP :

"A memoir, written by a Chinese sports official, tells the tale bluntly: Beijing sealed its bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics by trumping Toronto in backroom deals. Behind the scenes, Beijing officials told European members of the International Olympic Committee that China would support the candidacy of Belgium's Jacques Rogge for IOC president in return for their support of a Games in China, according to retired sports minister and president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, Yuan Weimin.

The scheme worked to perfection. Not only did the Chinese capital get the 2008 Games, but Rogge was elected IOC president and not a single member of the IOC executive board was elected from Canada or the Americas."


h/t Toe at Bread 'n Roses

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