# Bush's Olympic Ad & Consequences **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927 "2004-08-28T07:25:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/1 "2004-08-28T07:25:06Z")
I’m posting this in Cafe Society because my question is about the IOC. [http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=sportsNews&storyID=572368§ion=news](http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=sportsNews&storyID=572368§ion=news) > [@](#): > > ATHENS (Reuters) - The re-election campaign for U.S. President George W. Bush has refused to pull an ad that has Olympic Games officials fuming. > > “We are on firm legal ground to mention the Olympics to make a factual point in a political advertisement,” Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said on Thursday. Can the IOC take any action? For example, could it exclude US athletes from further competition if Bush doesn’t comply? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/2 "2004-08-28T07:54:37Z")
Since the Olympics will be over in two days, there’s no point. The IOC can complain all they want, but if they are going to take on the President of the United States on this issue, they would lose. I thought the bigger complaints were from the USOC because they are granted exclusive rights to Olympic symbols in advertising in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/3 "2004-08-28T14:06:45Z")
They’re still advertising those? Their principle subject, the Iraqi soccer team objected in very strong terms. I guess they’re betting on people not knowing that the Iraqi soccer team has condemned the occupation, and stated taht if they weren’t playing, they’d be killing Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/4 "2004-08-28T14:21:59Z")
Well the IOC does decide where the games are held. They could pick other countries to host for a while. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/5 "2004-08-28T16:13:02Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > They’re still advertising those? Their principle subject, the Iraqi soccer team objected in very strong terms. I guess they’re betting on people not knowing that the Iraqi soccer team has condemned the occupation, and stated taht if they weren’t playing, they’d be killing Americans. That’s not exactly what they said, unless there were further quotes that I didn’t read. Frankly, the Iraqi soccer team members that were interviewed didn’t seem like the brightest bulbs in the world. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/6 "2004-08-28T17:05:16Z")
Actually, there’s a federal law forbidding anyone from using the Olympics or its logo for political or commercial purposes without express permission from the IOC. But, heeeeyyy! He’s the guy in the white house, so he can do what he wants. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/7 "2004-08-28T21:01:40Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Actually, there’s a federal law forbidding anyone from using the Olympics or its logo for political or commercial purposes without express permission from the IOC. Cite? There is case law in which the _United States_ Olympic Committee (cravenly and hypocritically) got a permanent injunction against the Gay Olympics, preventing the (now) Gay Games from using the word “Olympics” (while taking no action against the Police Olympics, the Chili Olympics or the Rat Olympics) but I’m not aware of any law as you describe (other than any applicable copyright or trademark law but that’s not specific to the Olympics). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/8 "2004-08-28T21:13:29Z")
**zebra** ’s finger is on it. There’s no way New York gets the 2012 Games now. Even Sports Illustrated, in its print editions, only has a brief item saying the Iraqi soccer players object to the ad, not the much-stronger statement of contempt they ran online. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/9 "2004-08-28T22:08:28Z")
[Here’s](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/21/politics/campaign/21spot.html?n=Top%2FNews%2FWashington%2FCampaign%202004%2FCandidates%2FGeorge%20W%20Bush) an article on the controversy. Note in particular the quote: Federal copyright laws have granted the Olympic committee exclusive rights to the term “Olympics.” I.e., the USOC didn’t do an copyright/trademark application of the term. A special Federal law was written to (retroactively) assign them the term. (As well as other secondary terms and logos.) _Commericial_ use of such IP is therefore clearly wrong. The USOC has routinely gone after people they felt were violating their IP. IMHO, a political ad is just a commercial selling a politician, no difference. If the shoe was on the other foot, this would be a major “talking point” on talk radio for the next 2 weeks. Instead, most people won’t even hear about it. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/10 "2004-08-28T23:17:57Z")
[Click here if you don’t want to register at the NYT site](http://www.inta.org/info/basics_olympictm.html). It’s not a copyright issue; it’s a trademark issue. > [@](#): > > The Olympic trademarks protected by statute (36 U.S.C. 220506©) include: the name "UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE”; the symbol of the International Olympic Committee, consisting of five interlocking rings; the words "Olympic, " “Olympiad” and “Citius Altius Fortius,” and also the words “Paralympic,” “Paralympiad,” “Pan-American” and “America Espirito Sport Fraternite,” or any combination of these words; the emblem of the United States Olympic Committee, consisting of an escutcheon having a blue chief and vertically extending red and white bars on the base with five interlocking rings displayed on the chief; and the symbols of the International Paralympic Committee and the Pan-American Sports Organization, consisting of a torch surrounded by concentric rings. And [here](http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/36/220506.html) is the actual law. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/11 "2004-08-29T00:00:33Z")
The 2012 Olympics will end up wherever the IOC thinks it can get the best deal. If NYC can provide it, then that will be the choice. The 9 cities on the short list are: New York Paris Leipzig Moscow Istanbul Havana London Rio de Janeiro Madrid I’d be shocked to see the 2012 Olympics in Havana. And I doubt Rio could pull it off either. Paris hasn’t hosted the games since 1924 and London since 1948. Maybe Moscow could have it and EVERYBODY could show up. But as for repercussions from the Bush commercial, I wouldn’t count on much. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/12 "2004-08-29T00:03:31Z")
The list has already been shortened to Paris, London, Moscow, and New York, with the rumors saying Paris even before the ad ran. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/13 "2004-08-29T00:04:40Z")
Reading further, I see that Havana, Leipzig, Istanbul, and Rio are already out of consideration. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/14 "2004-08-29T00:12:08Z")
I hate to say it, but I think New York is a shoo in. They got the US site because of Sept. 11. I think US television will dictate a US games in 2012. They have been stuck with Sydney, Athens, and Beijing which are all bad (time zone wise) for US television. I think US TV (not sure if NBC has the contract) will demand a US games. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/15 "2004-08-29T03:06:38Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I hate to say it, but I think New York is a shoo in. They got the US site because of Sept. 11. I think US television will dictate a US games in 2012. They have been stuck with Sydney, Athens, and Beijing which are all bad (time zone wise) for US television. I think US TV (not sure if NBC has the contract) will demand a US games. What? Who cares what Pravda, excuse me, the US media want? They, thankfully, have no say in the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/16 "2004-08-29T03:38:43Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > …preventing the (now) Gay Games from using the word “Olympics” (while taking no action against the Police Olympics, the Chili Olympics or the Rat Olympics) Not exactly. The IOC and USOC have gone after many groups using the word “Olympics” in their name, including police organizations. > [@](#): > > The Texas Police Games were originally called The Texas Police Olympics. In 1996, the year that the real “Olympics” were held in Atlanta, GA, the Olympic organization forced everyone using the word Olympics to use a different word or be fined. They only allowed the Special Olympics use of the word. At that point the Texas Police Athletic Federation renamed the games “The Texas Police Games”. This also affected the National Police Olympics and the International Police Olympics. [http://texaspolicegames.org/tpafhistory.html](http://texaspolicegames.org/tpafhistory.html) Enforcement seems spotty, though, since googling “police olympics” brings up two events (in Pennsylvania and Florida) using that name in 2004. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/17 "2004-08-29T04:13:40Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I hate to say it, but I think New York is a shoo in. They got the US site because of Sept. 11. I think US television will dictate a US games in 2012. They have been stuck with Sydney, Athens, and Beijing which are all bad (time zone wise) for US television. I think US TV (not sure if NBC has the contract) will demand a US games. The selection of sites for the Olympics is about 90% politics. Whatever sympathy the US had because of 9/11 is gone now, thanks to the war. Even before the ad ran, the odds were greatly against New York (or any American city) being selected. Also, the US had the Atlanta games not too long ago, so there is probably a sense that the US isn’t “due” yet. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/18 "2004-08-29T06:24:58Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > Not exactly. The IOC and USOC have gone after many groups using the word “Olympics” in their name, including police organizations. They may be more active now but back when they were going after the Gay Olympics they were pretty nasty about it, including putting a lien on the house of the Gay Olympics organizer while he was otherwise engaged dying of AIDS. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/19 "2004-08-29T07:30:40Z")
ok, I just remember our dormitory getting threatening letters from them back in '92 because we had some kind of environmental awareness program called the ecolympics. We changed it pretty quickly, but who knows what would have happened if we’d tried to fight it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927/20 "2004-08-29T14:22:08Z")
Apparently the Bush campaign has done the math and realizes that the IOC and USOC cannot invoke any meaningful consequences before November. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-olympic-ad-consequences/261927.md?page=2)