Thursday, February 4, 2010

Go Team Polo! I mean USA!

The Branding of America (the federal constitutional republic)

Maybe you saw the new Olympic wardrobe by Ralph Lauren announced earlier this week. This is the clothing that will be worn in the opening ceremonies, around the Olympic village, and pretty much most any time the athletes are not actually wearing theirIt pretty much makes me sick. I like the design of the outfits themselves, but seriously should the Ralph Lauren logos be bigger than either the United States Flag or Olympic logos? Since when is it The United States by Ralph Lauren. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great that RL is supporting the US Olympic team and I think the company deserves exposure for their sponsorship. I just think promoting the company more than the team or even the Olympics themselves is the wrong message to be sending. It does not seem to be the spirit of the Olympic games. I just don't like it.

This is the type of thing that can only get worse. Let's look at the Polo style shirts from the past two Olympic games. The 2008 polo shirt by Nike on the right, still has the Nike logo and swoosh as a sponsorship should, but the logo is smaller than the USA Olympic logo, there for not the main focus. The 2010 by Ralph Lauren on the other hand has the pony twice the size of the USA Olympic logo. My eye focuses on the pony well before the team, I feel like I will be watching corporations compete instead of representations of countries.


Even the hoodie by Ralph Lauren for the 2008 (right) was much more subdued with the logo than the current. That is RL Polo logo on the sleeve, much nicer than a huge RL_10.

Ralph Lauren wasn't the first, for a while it felt like watching the Home Depot team with all the commercials they aired about HD employing more Olympic athletes. The difference there was that it was a commercial, not the outfits at the games themselves. I still knew Home Depot was a major sponsor and supporter but during the games themselves there was enough of a separation for me not to feel like I was rooting for Team Home Depot, I was rooting for Team USA. Maybe I will feel this way when the Olympics do arrive in a couple weeks...but right now all I can think is "Go team Polo by Ralph Lauren!"

I hear this is what the outfits will look like for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.


OK, this is just a Jeff Gordon NASCAR coat with a few Olympic and other logos added...but you can see this coming, right? Brawndo The Thirst Mutilator!






I do however love the mascot Quatchi. Quatchi rules. So cute, cuddly, friendly, and welcoming. Good job Vancouver. You made Izzy (AKA - Whatizit) look like a real piece of garbage in comparison (by the way, he was a piece of garbage...might as well have been Springy from the Simpsons). Epic Fail USA. Gold in the mascot field goes to Vancouver, USA did not even qualify for this event.

2 comments:

kelly said...

But it's got ELECTROLYTES!

Michael said...

I know - I was just kidding, if it was a big Brawndo label instead of RL Polo, I wouldn't be complaining. We'd kick ass in every event then. I know Brando's got what plants crave.

Go to Brawndo.com and watch some of the commercials.

Brawndo is dangerous like riding a pony which doesn't sound dangerous at all , but this pony is 300 feet tall and covered in chainsaws.