Seems ridiculous to me, although…
What is the dot for in front of the second “2”? There’s no dot in front of the first “2”. Is it part of the “1”? Or is it…gulp…a dot on the i?
By the way, in Great Debates just because I can see some things being said, that’s all. Move as you wish…
Oh no, we might miss the Iranian women’s gymnastic team.
I’ve heard the logo described as “Lisa Simpson giving a blowjob”, but the charge of racism is a new one on me…
No, it’s not racist. Iran’s just beign icnredibly stupid, as always.
It is, however, fugly.
You know, it took me a second, but yeah, I can sort of see that.
I’m going to go with racist and fugly.
Or attention-whoring… sort of the Fred Phelps of international politics. (Although actually I think that title goes to NK).
Oh yes. And some graphic designer probably got a small mint for it. Either that or it was designed by a nephew of the committee chair… in crayon.
It looks like the SS symbol actually.
Even if it did say “Zion” - and it emphatically does not, the whole thing makes me think Ahmadinejad has sustained massive brain damage - that wouldn’t be racist. In particular there is no way that second 2 looks like an N. You also have to read the numbers 2 - 1 - 0 - 2, from top to bottom and left to right, which is not how you read English. I assume Ahmadinejad is playing to his base, and if Iran wants to keep their team home in 2012, let them.
By the way, the logo is ugly as shit and always has been.
Huh. I wonder about the timing of this. The logo has been around since 2007 and not a peep. Then on the same day the government acknowledges opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have been jailed, along with their wives, suddenly Iran’s National Olympic Committee makes a stink about the logo.
This looks to me like an attempt to distract people from the bigger story.
The person that designed that thing needs to be fired. I had no idea it was spelling out “2012” until I read the article. So not only is it ugly, it’s unintelligible.
I disagree with Iran’s position, but I am grateful it has brought this matter to the world’s attention. The logo is so ugly that it’s making me want to fling things at it. The Olympics should make you happy. Not full of hate.
I can see it after reading what the Iranians are comparing it to, but there’s no way I would have drawn the comparison otherwise.
Seems to me to be an elementary case of humans interpreting abstract shapes in the context of things familiar to them.
I hadn’t heard that. My guess was that they were trying to distract Iranians from getting all protest-y the way the Egyptians and Tunisians and Libyans and others. Sounds like they’re just playing the fools on the world stage so people don’t notice what they are doing domestically.
I’d support a logo of Moohamud fucking Grimace if it upset them in any way.
Who was the idiot who signed off on that thing?
The Daily News notes that Iran “normally threatens to boycott the Games at least once before the event.” I guess this is meant to make the country look magnanimous at home, but it’s the equivalent of “If you kids don’t pipe down I will turn this car right around.”
A consulting firm called Wolff Ollins, which is part of the totally-not-evil-sounding Omnicom Group.
I’ve seen it before but never made the “2012” connection. Fugly, that thing is.
Ahh, we humans are so good at pattern recognition. I can kinda see what’s up with the “Zion” thing though it’s very vague. I never in a billion years would have thought of something like that without being told about it. It’s the same reason people see Jesus on toast.
You think THAT’S ugly?
Have a look at the terrifying, soul-devouring mascots, drawn from an alternate dimension of twisted time and impossible space:
Racist? Only if numbers can be racist. But it is a friggin mess of ugly. and Wolff Olins is generally a good design firm. MASSIVE fail here, though.
But if all it takes for nutty Iranians and other Muslims to stay away form something is to put “ZION” on it, I say, Welcome to Zion Air!
Didn’t The Doctor sent them packing back to their home planet in the last Series?