I was going to use a screen shot from the Olympics on TV here but apparently I can't as there is a disclaimer on all the coverage that unauthorised reproduction and distribution is prohibited. Nice. Why wouldn't they want their images distributed as much as possible? So here's an old picture of the fair.
I'm writing from the home of the Staycation - holidays taken at home in the US rather than travelling to Europe. As a consequence the roads are crowded but the restaurants are half empty, as people make use of their holiday homes and friends' invitations.
One thing I've been most struck by is just how insanely eager the Americans (and I'm generalising massively here - I'm on an island the size of the Isle of Wight with the demographic profile of Belgravia)are for the Olympics. It's like they've been waiting for four years just to see how well (actually how badly) the US performed on the pommell horse. The bars are packed to the gills of young and old alike glued to the plasma at midnight. Maybe it's just patriotism, or something else in the psyche that compels us to watch.
Equally fascinating is just how bad the ads are right now. You can see the scene: pick any main channel (CNBC, CCNBC, CBNC, CNNBCC, CBNNCCBBCC, etc) and visualise a random picture of an athlete you've never heard of, scrubbed to within an inch of their lives, and insert-packshot-here of haemmorhoid cream/4x4/insurance/anti-depressants. Where have all the ideas gone? Coke came reasonably close with a computer animated spot featuring two NBA basketball players from different nationalities being united through their love of Coke. Ahh (ugh). But at least there was an idea. Brands that co-opt sporting events and simply stick a random athlete in or logo on mere product information quickly becomes wallpaper. It's offensive to watch actually. I mean these people have had four years to think about it, to find an idea and make it look majestic and brilliant.
London take note.
Right, I'm off to the pool.
