FARK.com: (7209147) McDonald's huge Olympic $ponsor$hip demands that all competing retailers surrender their french fries

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		McDonald's huge Olympic $ponsor$hip demands that all competing retailers surrender their french fries (news.com.au)		121
		More: Asinine, Mcdonald, PM Today, Olympic Park, The London Game, AFP Source, General Mills, outlet store, London Olympics

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Silverstaff		2012-07-12 01:55:42 PM

DROxINxTHExWIND: McDonald's has paid a LOT of money to be a sponser.

Why should the Olympics even have sponsors? They don't need sponsors to hold events, for almost 90 years they ran Olympic games without sponsorships.

The 1896 Olympics didn't have sponsors, the 1900 Olympics didn't have sponsors. . .before 1984 no Olympic games had any kind of sponsorship. In the US, before 1978 there wasn't even any trademark protection on the Olympic logo or words, anybody could use it in advertisements or marketing with no need for permission from any Olympic committee.

The Olympics were supposed to be a competition of the worlds finest athletes and a way for countries to come together in friendly competition.

In the last 25 years or so it's become a giant excreted display of corporate sponsors, logos, mascots, and marketing. Who actually wins in the games and the actual events themselves are secondary to the constant blitz of paid advertisements.

JonBuck		2012-07-12 02:03:46 PM

Silverstaff: DROxINxTHExWIND: McDonald's has paid a LOT of money to be a sponser.

In the last 25 years or so it's become a giant excreted display of corporate sponsors, logos, mascots, and marketing. Who actually wins in the games and the actual events themselves are secondary to the constant blitz of paid advertisements.

Not to mention the bribery and kickbacks between the IOC and cities who hope to host the games in the first place. Corruption, thy name is IOC. I might watch the opening ceremonies because I'm curious how the Brits are going to celebrate their culture as most countries do.

It's not about the athletes. It's how much money the IOC can get for itself.

treesloth		2012-07-12 02:05:42 PM

So here's the plan: Figure out what a "chip" is. Define it, then come up with something that's almost a chip, but not quite, so as to not be in violation of the ban. Serve that, loudly. I'll bet lots and lots of Brits would love a lunch of "fish and not-quite-chips" just to stick it to McD's. Every pound spent is both lunch and protest!

I'm as capitalist as they come, and I have no problem with McD's doing this on that basis. I just think the free (libre, not gratis) lunch market can now slap them upside the head, as a reminder than capitalists need for customers to like them enough to be willing to do business with them.

MCStymie		2012-07-12 02:06:07 PM

DROxINxTHExWIND: AqueousBoy: It's dumb for McDonald's to have asked for this, but even dumber of the Olympics to have agreed to this. I blame the committee. They should have taken one look at the fry exclusivity and said, "Well, no. We can't have that."

After all, it's the Olympics. If McDonald's balks at their refusal, there's a lot of other companies out there who would gladly take the place of McDonald's.

Why do you hate capitalism? McDonald's has paid a LOT of money to be a sponser. In order to recoup some of that money they are asking their business partner to limit their competitors ability to capitalize off of the event the McDonald's PAID to sponser. What would be the point in giving the Olympics money if Burger King could just roll in and set up a stand next to every McDonalds? And there may be a lot of other companies willing to take McDonald's place, but I'm sure they can't do it a couple of weeks before the games start. I'm also sure that McDonal's lawyers would have a few things to say to them. shiat isn't as easy as you all like to make it.

*Insert "Not Sure If Serious" pic here*

And now it's time for the 800 Meter Dash...to McDonald's! Did somebody say McDonalds?

/Please rise for the national anthem...♫Ba Da Ba Ba Baaaa, I'm lovin' it♫

fisker		2012-07-12 02:06:57 PM

YakiManiac		2012-07-12 02:12:37 PM

McDonald's:
The official french fries of the US Olympic team

LoneWolf343		2012-07-12 02:13:51 PM

Mr Guy: They've learned from the NCAA. I'm pretty sure you can get executed for flashing the wrong soda logo at the Final Four.

Remember when Brian Urlacher wore a Vitamin Water hat to a press conference?

Persnickety		2012-07-12 02:18:45 PM

I'm pretty damned liberal but I'm having a hard time getting worked up over this. Reminds me of the thread a few weeks back when that Gotye guy was complaining about how he didn't like how Glee up and gleeified his song on the show. You signed the contract, took their money, and granted them the rights. What were you expecting?

King Something		2012-07-12 02:18:58 PM

anfrind: The sound of one hand clapping: The flip side is that this could be really good news for any restaurants or vendors just outside the olympic sites. Because a lot of people angry with this decision might decide to get their food outside the venue's. So if someone has a nice little restaurant just a few minutes walk from the olympic site, with chips on the menu, they could really clean up.

I wonder if London has any sort of food truck scene like the ones that have sprung up in New York and San Francisco over the past few years? As long as there aren't any oppressive rules just outside the Olympic site, a truck selling higher-quality fish and chips might be very successful during the Olympics.

I recall someone, somewhere mentioning something about a zone of exclusion for a few miles around the Olympic Park, where the only sellable things allowed are those sold by the sponsors; not only is McDonald's the only fast-food restaurant (and probably the only restaurant) allowed in this zone, but since Visa is a sponsor, that's the only credit card vendors (probably including ATMs) in the zone will be allowed to accept -- If you've got an AmEx Black Card with a fifty million pound limit but no cash, you'll have to panhandle if you want to eat.

batlock666		2012-07-12 02:22:22 PM

The only branded products sold at the Games will be those made by commercial partners Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Cadbury, Nature Valley and Heineken.

Soft-drinks, fast-food, candy, granola-bars, and beer (barely). A healthy mind in a healthy body.

devildog123		2012-07-12 02:31:21 PM

JackieRabbit: FrancoFile: Not to get all facty on you, but approximately 20% of their locations are corporate-owned, not franchised.

Where? I haven't seen one in years. Hell, the ones around here are operated by people who can't even speak English. The stores are usually filthy and the "food" is just slopped together. One takes a high risk of food poisoning by eating in them. Years ago, when Ray Kroc was still running the show, McDs had pretty good food and their restaurants were spotless. A story is told of him that he once walked into a store in NYC to find french fries on the floor and a couple of tables that had not been wiped. Kroc fired the manager on the spot, swept and mopped the floor himself, and then ran the restaurant for the rest of that shift. He was 72 at the time.

Yeah, it's amazing how when the giant revered figures that started these organizations pass, and they get into the hands of people without their vision, they screw it up. Same with Wal-Mart. Back under Sam Walton, there was tons of made in America stuff, the store was clean, and everything was decent. He died, and the kids got hold of it, and it went to shait.

Drunk Dragon		2012-07-12 02:41:29 PM

FarknGroovn		2012-07-12 02:47:47 PM

Can all competing vendors just reclassify their french fries as freedom fries to circumvent McDonalds?

farkerts		2012-07-12 02:55:08 PM

I saw another article on this that referred to it as capitalism at it's worst which made me laugh.

/this has NOTHING to do with capitalism

meanmutton		2012-07-12 03:02:10 PM

farkerts: I saw another article on this that referred to it as capitalism at it's worst which made me laugh.

/this has NOTHING to do with capitalism

Exactly. Crony capitalism is something that the Tea Party and OWS groups both protested about and that both American political parties support.

But as long as you buy into thinking this is a right versus left issue instead of an issue of political corruption, the more you let it happen.

turbidum		2012-07-12 03:05:14 PM

AqueousBoy: It's dumb for McDonald's to have asked for this, but even dumber of the Olympics to have agreed to this. I blame the committee. They should have taken one look at the fry exclusivity and said, "Well, no. We can't have that."

After all, it's the Olympics. If McDonald's balks at their refusal, there's a lot of other companies out there who would gladly take the place of McDonald's.

Really? But are there a lot of other companies with a commensurate amount of adspace, willing to be filled by the company itself, in their shops with a commensurate number of said shops (31,000) in a commensurate number of countries (121)?

StrangeQ		2012-07-12 03:09:27 PM

farkerts: I saw another article on this that referred to it as capitalism at it's worst which made me laugh.

/this has NOTHING to do with capitalism

Kindly explain how selling out to the highest bidder is not at the very heart and soul of capitalism.

xria		2012-07-12 03:27:57 PM

LoneWolf343: Mr Guy: They've learned from the NCAA. I'm pretty sure you can get executed for flashing the wrong soda logo at the Final Four.

Remember when Brian Urlacher wore a Vitamin Water hat to a press conference?

Competitors are getting more aggressive about trying to undercut/bypass "official" sponsors of events with "guerilla" marketing, so the events and the sponsors are tying things up ever tighter - people may enjoy some bavarian beer producer trying to stick it to the official world cup sponsor and try and get large sections of the crowd wearing adverts for them, or all the other examples recently, but it is the people that attend the events that end up being the main losers, ending up with more and restrictions like this.

silverjets		2012-07-12 03:29:35 PM

So just order fries instead.

treesloth		2012-07-12 03:32:24 PM

StrangeQ: heart and soul

I think as long as you're using weasel words like "heart and soul"-- seemingly significant, but ultimately so imprecise as to be nearly useless-- you'll find little ground for useful discussion. You could instead say, "frequently-found outcome of" and be correct, but that lacks the benefit of implicitly condemning the entire system. You could say "defining characteristic of" and come close to your original intent while raising an idea that can be debated as either correct or incorrect. The downside, of course, is that the answer is a resounding "incorrect". But "heart and soul"? That's "not even wrong".

indoorplant		2012-07-12 03:39:16 PM

AlgaeRancher		2012-07-12 03:41:26 PM

Mcdonalds fries are a lot better if you ask them to hold the salt
/almost taste like potaotes

silverjets		2012-07-12 03:41:32 PM

Walker: You have no idea on how the Olympic organizers are caving into their sponsors. No bottled water is being allowed in to the events because they want you to spend like 10 pounds for a bottle of it. But even more crazy: one lane of traffic will be blocked off on all the major highways leading to Olympic events so that sponsors can use them. Not even ambulances are allowed to use them

Not entirely true. They can use them during an emergency.

FTFA:
While ambulances and fire trucks responding to emergency calls will be allowed into the lanes, blood supplies and non-critical sick people in transit may not.

Tax Boy		2012-07-12 03:46:19 PM

Walker: You have no idea on how the Olympic organizers are caving into their sponsors. No bottled water is being allowed in to the events because they want you to spend like 10 pounds for a bottle of it.

I remember when they tried that cunning plan at the olympics in Atlanta. Of course it was 95 degrees every day, so once spectators started dropping from heat exhaustion, they started giving away water at the stadium entrances for free.

/at least it will be a comfortable 70 degrees in london
//plus, hey, free water from the sky.

cjmook21		2012-07-12 03:49:21 PM

They let Heineken be the official beer sponsor but they throw this bullshiat rule in there? What the fark.

Dear Jerk		2012-07-12 04:00:13 PM

Broktun
But if it is the only choice in a 5 mile radius, then you eat McDonalds.

We went into the Grand Canyon McDonalds. I saw the prices and said 'F that, we'll eat in a couple hours.

Gosling		2012-07-12 04:04:45 PM

Dreyelle: Did this kind of thing happen at prior Olympics? And what exactly are they sponsoring?

Yeah, but I'm still waiting for the obligatory sweeping-out-the-poor-people-before-someone-takes-a-picture-of-them story.

Buffalo77		2012-07-12 04:11:16 PM

meanmutton

farkerts: I saw another article on this that referred to it as capitalism at it's worst which made me laugh.

/this has NOTHING to do with capitalism

Exactly. Crony capitalism is something that the Tea Party and OWS groups both protested about and that both American political parties support.

But as long as you buy into thinking this is a right versus left issue instead of an issue of political corruption, the more you let it happen.

I don't think this is any type of issue. They paid $100 million for the sponsorship and thats part of the deal.

Try ordering a Coke at Taco Bell or Coors light at Busch Stadium, etc etc etc. Venues sign deals all the time, its just a fact of life.

casual disregard		2012-07-12 04:13:47 PM

I remember back when I was attending VCU, I was told an offer was tendered to put a McDonalds in our cafeteria. WacArnolds countered the offer by stating every other commercial vendor would have to be expelled. I never ate WacArnolds there, but I think I gained about ten pounds eating Chik-Fil-A.

StrangeQ		2012-07-12 04:15:32 PM

treesloth: StrangeQ: heart and soul

I think as long as you're using weasel words like "heart and soul"-- seemingly significant, but ultimately so imprecise as to be nearly useless-- you'll find little ground for useful discussion. You could instead say, "frequently-found outcome of" and be correct, but that lacks the benefit of implicitly condemning the entire system. You could say "defining characteristic of" and come close to your original intent while raising an idea that can be debated as either correct or incorrect. The downside, of course, is that the answer is a resounding "incorrect". But "heart and soul"? That's "not even wrong".

I'm sorry, were you trying to answer the question or just ramble on about semantics in a vain attempt to sound intelligent?

casual disregard		2012-07-12 04:16:24 PM

casual disregard: I remember back when I was attending VCU, I was told an offer was tendered to put a McDonalds in our cafeteria. WacArnolds countered the offer by stating every other commercial vendor would have to be expelled. I never ate WacArnolds there, but I think I gained about ten pounds eating Chik-Fil-A.

/fark that reminds me, that was when Pepsi Blue was still available
//FFS bring back Pepsi Blue

Disgruntled Goat		2012-07-12 04:34:27 PM

JackieRabbit: The stores are usually filthy and the "food" is just slopped together. One takes a high risk of food poisoning by eating in them.

And you know this how?

Also, apparently you fail at the interwebs, Google specifically. Lots of info about corporate-owned McD's units there.

Also, please stop talking out of your ass.

Thank you

MagnesDrachen		2012-07-12 04:38:52 PM

Free market, woohoo!

JohnCarter		2012-07-12 04:49:04 PM

I do luvs me the lympics - I am going to get in shape for the 2020 games....hey, can I have your fish???

cache.gawker.com

ciberido		2012-07-12 04:55:17 PM

DROxINxTHExWIND: Why do you hate capitalism?

Because of crap like this.

I don't really hate capitalism, but since you want to pretend it's as simple as loving or hating something, there you go.

fredbox		2012-07-12 04:55:24 PM

I take it sumo wrestling is an official sport this year?

saturn badger		2012-07-12 05:00:11 PM

No where in TFA does it say they have to be McD's fries... er, chips. Only that fish has to be served with them.

Gordon Bennett		2012-07-12 05:19:47 PM

PaLarkin		2012-07-12 05:21:42 PM

So all the other merchants have to do is include a small piece of a fish stick with each order of chips. The rules don't say how large the fish portion has to be.

intelligent comment below		2012-07-12 05:31:59 PM

Silverstaff: DROxINxTHExWIND: McDonald's has paid a LOT of money to be a sponser.

Why should the Olympics even have sponsors? They don't need sponsors to hold events, for almost 90 years they ran Olympic games without sponsorships.

The 1896 Olympics didn't have sponsors, the 1900 Olympics didn't have sponsors. . .before 1984 no Olympic games had any kind of sponsorship. In the US, before 1978 there wasn't even any trademark protection on the Olympic logo or words, anybody could use it in advertisements or marketing with no need for permission from any Olympic committee.

The Olympics were supposed to be a competition of the worlds finest athletes and a way for countries to come together in friendly competition.

In the last 25 years or so it's become a giant excreted display of corporate sponsors, logos, mascots, and marketing. Who actually wins in the games and the actual events themselves are secondary to the constant blitz of paid advertisements.

It's just a sad reminder that society merely exists for one reason only... to profit the corporation

You can't go anywhere or see anything in this day and age without mindless brainwashing demanding you buy certain products and act a certain way

Then you go home and your friends and family all act like a stereotype of something that they grew up watching, either a gay guy playing a cowboy in movies (John Wayne) or Captain America, a liberal elitist barista, etc. Nobody is an individual anymore. You might as well start stamping corporate logos on babies and accept the fact that nothing in this universe matters anymore except the profits of multinational corporations.

treesloth		2012-07-12 05:33:51 PM

StrangeQ: I'm sorry, were you trying to answer the question or just ramble on about semantics in a vain attempt to sound intelligent?

Sorry, I guess I used big words. Here you go: You didn't want the question answered. That's why you asked it the way you did.

Cornelius Dribble		2012-07-12 05:59:04 PM

What is Le Relais de Venise going to serve during the games?

Don't recall anything remotely like this in a McDonalds:

3.bp.blogspot.com

letrole		2012-07-12 06:17:24 PM

Anyone who feigns disgust at the idea of eating a Big Mac also tends to:

1. Own a TV but haven't turned it on in years
2. Drink microbrewery beer
3. Watch Japanese children's cartoons on a Mac
4. Appreciate the warmth of vinyl phonograph records
5. Read books at Starbucks
6. Claim to prefer girls with small breasts
7. Make snide remarks about Wal-Mart.
8. Walk past a smoker and force pretentious coughing noises
9. Take comfort in believing size doesn't matter
10. Ride a bike to work wearing spandex stretch trousers

intelligent comment below		2012-07-12 06:18:57 PM

BarkingUnicorn		2012-07-12 06:29:21 PM

McD blew it. I'd have let all 800 vendors sell all the chips they want - as ,long as they bought the chips from me.

Don't Troll Me Bro!		2012-07-12 06:32:02 PM

Man, The Olympics has become one disgusting onslaught of corporate bullshiat disguised in the glory of what The Olympics are actually supposed to be.

Lehk		2012-07-12 06:32:20 PM

Walker: AqueousBoy: It's dumb for McDonald's to have asked for this, but even dumber of the Olympics to have agreed to this. I blame the committee. They should have taken one look at the fry exclusivity and said, "Well, no. We can't have that."

After all, it's the Olympics. If McDonald's balks at their refusal, there's a lot of other companies out there who would gladly take the place of McDonald's.

You have no idea on how the Olympic organizers are caving into their sponsors. No bottled water is being allowed in to the events because they want you to spend like 10 pounds for a bottle of it. But even more crazy: one lane of traffic will be blocked off on all the major highways leading to Olympic events so that sponsors can use them. Not even ambulances are allowed to use them

The London Olympic Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG), however, has decided that ambulances on non-urgent business will not be given permission to use them.

non-story

andersoncouncil42		2012-07-12 06:39:43 PM

letrole: Anyone who feigns disgust at the idea of eating a Big Mac also tends to:

1. Own a TV but haven't turned it on in years
2. Drink microbrewery beer
3. Watch Japanese children's cartoons on a Mac
4. Appreciate the warmth of vinyl phonograph records
5. Read books at Starbucks
6. Claim to prefer girls with small breasts
7. Make snide remarks about Wal-Mart.
8. Walk past a smoker and force pretentious coughing noises
9. Take comfort in believing size doesn't matter
10. Ride a bike to work wearing spandex stretch trousers

1. No
2. Lager
3. What is this, I don't even
4. You must be deaf
5. I travel for work, so sometimes yes - to kill time
6. Small is a relative term. I don't like them to sag past the belly button, no.
8. Wal-Mart sucks - this is self evident
9. You must be compensating, besides, your mother can't take all of it.
10. I used to ride to work, but at 30 miles a day, 5 days a week, you'd get a hell of a rash and saddle sore wearing anything else.

Oh, and Big Macs are really disgusting. The last burger I liked from Crapdonalds was the McDLT. I go there when I'm in the UK because they still have the deep fried apple pies!

bbfreak		2012-07-12 07:16:30 PM

Yay Americans.

Making fun of the uniform because its Frenchie.

Outraged that the uniform is made in China (I mean really, the horse has escaped the barn on that one. If you're really going to complain about stuff being made in China you have to take on Walmart and others who only sell cheap shiat that isn't made to last). You can't draw the line there and pretend to be morally outraged, not after you've sold the rest of the country down the river.

Oh, and now we're doing our best to make everyone fat!

USA! USA! USA!

/Looking forward to the Olympics anyway, but oh well.

intelligent comment below		2012-07-12 07:19:48 PM

andersoncouncil42: 1. No
2. Lager
3. What is this, I don't even
4. You must be deaf
5. I travel for work, so sometimes yes - to kill time
6. Small is a relative term. I don't like them to sag past the belly button, no.
8. Wal-Mart sucks - this is self evident
9. You must be compensating, besides, your mother can't take all of it.
10. I used to ride to work, but at 30 miles a day, 5 days a week, you'd get a hell of a rash and saddle sore wearing anything else.

You accidentally a number

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