# The London 2012 Olympic Games Committee is cute **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 14, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198 "2012-07-14T13:46:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/21 "2012-07-16T04:47:46Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > IIRC in the USA you can get a nasty letter from USOC, backed by federal statute, if you start a business with the name “Olympic” outside of western Washington State. Wait, what? They own the word “olympic”? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/22 "2012-07-16T05:24:46Z")
BMX is an Olympic sport? F that! ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/23 "2012-07-16T05:37:07Z")
There shitty, atrocious logo is enough for a pitting alone. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/24 "2012-07-16T05:41:18Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Wait, what? They own the word “olympic”? Western Washington was clever enough to have Olympia and the Olympic Mountains before the IOC decided they owned those words. I guess they’re grandfathered in. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/25 "2012-07-16T06:02:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I totally misunderstood the intent of the thread title. > > I thought it was going to be about Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, and Emma Watson joining the committee. They said cute, not hot. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/26 "2012-07-16T06:10:01Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > They said cute, not hot. No, that would be if Gemma Arterton, Kate Beckinsale, and Elizabeth Hurley joined the committee. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/27 "2012-07-16T14:33:33Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Western Washington was clever enough to have Olympia and the Olympic Mountains before the IOC decided they owned those words. I guess they’re grandfathered in. Otherwise the Amateur Sports Act would not have any votes from Washington, I suppose 🙂 Actually, I exaggerate, some years afterwards the Act was sensibly amended to restore the longtime trademark principle that there’s no case if it’s obvious your business is not associated with Olympic sport, but for the 20 years before the amendment got passed yes USOC technically “owned” the terms and on ocassion would get Disneyesque about it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/28 "2012-07-16T18:25:07Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Wait, what? They own the word “olympic”? > **[USOC tangled up in knitting controversy before London Games](http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/06/usoc-london-2012-knitting-controversy/1)** > > The USOC sent a cease-and-desist letter to a knitting website, Ravelry.com, arguing that their “Ravelympics” infringes on their copyright. ---
**Author:** ![BunnyTVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BunnyTVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyTVS)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/29 "2012-07-16T18:39:48Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Wait, what? They own the word “olympic”? They are also attempting to block the use of the words [gold, summer, sponsors, 2012 and London.](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9402241/London-2012-Olympic-officials-to-police-banned-advertising.html) ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/30 "2012-07-17T15:44:34Z")
> [@BunnyTVS](#): > > They are also attempting to block the use of the words [gold, summer, sponsors, 2012 and London.](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9402241/London-2012-Olympic-officials-to-police-banned-advertising.html) How tempting to make up “Gold Family Reunion Summer BBQ – London 2012” t-shirts. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/31 "2012-07-17T16:48:16Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Otherwise the Amateur Sports Act would not have any votes from Washington, I suppose 🙂 Actually, I exaggerate, some years afterwards the Act was sensibly amended to restore the longtime trademark principle that there’s no case if it’s obvious your business is not associated with Olympic sport, but for the 20 years before the amendment got passed yes USOC technically “owned” the terms and on ocassion would get Disneyesque about it. I was living in Calgary at the time of the 1988 Winter Olympics. One of the stories making the rounds concerned the venerable “Olympic Restaurant”, a Calgary fixture for _decades_. I think you can guess the rest . . . yes, the restaurant owners were compelled to change its name. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/32 "2012-07-17T16:53:13Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > I was living in Calgary at the time of the 1988 Winter Olympics. One of the stories making the rounds concerned the venerable “Olympic Restaurant”, a Calgary fixture for _decades_. I think you can guess the rest . . . yes, the restaurant owners were compelled to change its name. “The power of the IOC compels you! The power of the IOC compels you!” ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198/33 "2012-07-18T23:24:12Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > How tempting to make up “Gold Family Reunion Summer BBQ – London 2012” t-shirts. Maybe [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com) can be your sponsers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-london-2012-olympic-games-committee-is-cute/628198.md?page=1)