Oh Good Grief

The latest chapter in London’s Clusterfuck 2012 was revealed earlier in the week with the unveiling of the London Olympics logo. As if everyone isn’t going to get squeezed enough on the gigantic overspends and incompetence, £400,000 was spunked right up the wall (and left dripping from the ceiling) on this:


Nice, huh? Have a look at it for a couple of seconds, or until you start screaming “My eyes! My eyes!” – whichever comes first. Can you see what it is yet?

I suppose the ziggidy-zaggedy blocks could take on the shape of London seen from way up high in the air, but only if you squint while having mace continually sprayed in your face and have no idea what London looks like from the air. In fact it’s 2-0-1-2. See? (And not the shape made by randomly throwing used tampons at a wall).

Oh, and it comes in a range of colours, none of which make it any better.


Amazingly it was produced by a proper design company, and not by the only kid in a class of children with learning difficulties who actually scribbled something down rather than shove the crayons up their nose. But then it’s a “design” thing, which gives the finger to the client and consumers. I suspect if one of the cock-knockers at The Esteemed School of Art had produced it the tutors would have shook with excitement while they stood in a puddle of their own wee.

The company who trousered the cash is Wolff Olins, who actually have it on their website homepage. While everyone has complained that it is basically a pile of shit, one person who defended the logo was the Brand Strategist Michael Wolff. In today's Evening Standard he declared:

I don’t see why the Olympic logo should look like a corporate one: it’s supposed to be a symbol of vitality. Doing something new is more important than creating a populist symbol.

And obviously more important than creating something that works.

Now, you may be thinking Wolff Olins, Michael Wolff... is there a connection there? And yes, Michael Wolff was co-founder of Wolff Olins, except he left in 1983 and became chairman of Addison before starting up Michael Wolff & Company Inc.

One of his many international clients was the Barcelona Olympic Games Committee, but only after he left his original company. So if the London Organising Committee liked what was done for Spain they cocked up again by getting the right name but the wrong company. As own goals go, the Committee scored a second almost straight away when flashing imagery in the promotional video produced for the launch gave at least ten people epileptic fits.

With five years, one month and twenty days to the launch of Clusterfuck 2012, what further massive foul-ups can these fuckwits get up to? It wouldn't surprise me if it involves somebody fisting a chicken.