Categories: Capital Diary

Olympic hats create storm – but it could have been worse

by Mitchel Raphael on Thursday, October 1, 2009 4:31pm - 132 Comments

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Much drama and political theatre in the House foyer as opposition MPs like Liberal Hedy Fry (below) were aghast over official caps for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games bearing a similar logo  to the Conservative Party logo. 

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Toronto NDP MP Olivia Chow was upset the hats were made in China. (That is just soooo Beijing 2008!)

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Liberals were handing out the caps in the foyer.  Alykhan Velshi (left), aide to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney (right), seemed to be happy to score a free hat. 

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And what  if the Liberals would have been in power  and a similar  ”coincidence”  happened ?  Maybe Canadian Olympic athletes would have been walking around with a big “L” on their foreheads.

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  • http://intensedebate.com/people/doug_rogers doug_rogers

    It's just a poor, unimaginative, uncreative design driven by literal specifications and a committee. It is designed to be 'read' , not 'seen'.

  • Lord Kitchener's Own

    Here's a <a href="http://www.theprovince.com/sports/2010wintergames/Gallery+2010+Olympic+merchandise/2055194/story.html">gallery of more of the clothes. With the sole exception of the cardigan sweater (which is a nice sweater of Canadian motifs, but hardly screams "Team Canada") my verdict is: EPIC FAIL.

    Most of the comments at The Provinces' story use words like ugly, failure, cheap, hideous, joke, etc… Several also echoed my sentiment above: Can we give the contract back to Roots already!?!?!?!

  • Lord Kitchener's Own
  • Lord Kitchener's Own
  • Lord Kitchener's Own

    Fine, copy and paste everyone, suddenly the comments section won't take my links! LOL

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/psiclone psiclone

    Hey you got my vote : whatever happened to Roots taking care of things – they were very cool!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Geiseric Geiseric

    boycott

  • Meany

    must be another vast right wing conspiracy.

    Anyway, the liberals got the flag (seriously, WHY aren't those two little bands on the left and right not blue? oceans? ad mare usque ad mare? hello?), the cons got the vancouver 2010 hat. Even steven.

    Secondly, isn't that burning crosses in kamloops lady holding that sign? she's still around? seriously? with so many millions of canadians facing unemployment, her not facing it is outrageous.

    • Lord Kitchener's Own

      Just back on the flag thing, the Liberal PM of the day, Pearson did actually want the bands on the left and right to be blue, that was his preference (along with three leaves in the center like on the Coat of Arms). There was a multiparty committee struck to make a recommendation to Parliament, and that all-party committee chose the white and red only version, which was then passed by Parliament (and, importantly to your contention that "the Liberals got the flag", it was a minority Parliament too, so the Liberals needed more than just their votes to get it through the House). It passed 163-78 (there were 128 Liberals in the House I believe, but some voted against the new flag, and some Tories voted for it… I don't know what the actual vote breakdown was).

      • Tguy

        Alright alright, fine. Guilty. I know nothing about Canadian history. Don't blame me, I went to public school! I think we spent 2 weeks on it. All I know is that it was called the Pearson Pennant, Pearson was a Liberal, therefore, blame him (you don't get too rigorous when you need to cover 300 years of history in 2 weeks).

        HOWEVER, irrespective of who to blame, I still don't think it makes sense. Should have went with the blue sides. Would have been a nice gesture for those uppity Quebec-folk too. Ah well. As with most things Canadian, it's not perfect, but it works well enough.

  • Meany

    What the…? This seems to be a serious post, with proper grammar, and well thought out logic.

    It does not belong here.

    • Dot

      I'll take your word for it. Hto H is the anti-twitter.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/psiclone psiclone

      my sentimements exacltltytly .. most likely one of those edumucated types I hear tell bout!

  • McKenzie

    Hey, some of you are forgetting the teachings of Tom Flannagan. Remember it doesn't have to be true, only plausible.
    Given the partisanship of the Harper government it is plausible that the similarities between the designs are not merely coincidental.
    One thing for certain, the Canadian Olympic team logo sucks. It is an ugly, static design that exudes the energy of a dead fish.
    Roots, come back. All is forgiven.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/VinceClortho VinceClortho

      he was saying that with reagrd to negative advertising….or making political charges……it saves one from actually having to concoct the conspiracy theory.

      But I suspect this story, if it doesnt sink beneath the waves by tomorrow will become the post martin equivalent of "soldiers in the streets"

      With no proof, it just doesnt match average every day people's (non partisans) experience.

      But Roots…..all agreed there….the quintessetial Canadian company, run by a couple of American expats.

  • Nova

    High irony that Olivia is moaning about things made in China.

  • Warren

    That's pretty funny coming from the Liberals given that the Canadian flag design was chosen by a Liberal Prime Minister, with Liberal colours, and a leaf belonging to a tree that predominantly grows in the East where most Liberal votes come from. If anyone should be accused of the ultimate Canadian logo controversy, it should be the Liberals.

    • Lord Kitchener's Own

      OK, now I think people are claiming Pearson didn't want blue in the flag just to drive me nuts.

      If I can manage to put a link in again, here's the flag Liberal PM Pearson preferred. Unless I'm colour blind, that's blue on the right and left there. Pearson's choice was cast aside by an all-party committee, which recommended Parliament adopt the current flag. Parliament (a MINORITY Parliament in which the Liberals had only a plurality) then voted 163-78 in favour of the new flag, with Liberals and Tories on both sides of the vote.

    • Lord Kitchener's Own

      Oh, and on the Maple Leaf, take that beef up with the King.

      The Maple Leaf was a symbol of Canada LOOOOONG before Pearson, and was the official symbol of Canada since George V proclaimed our Coat of Arms in 1921.

      I've seen no evidence that the King was a Liberal hack, and notorious Liberal Robert Borden was Prime Minister when the King made said proclamation, following advice from the Canadian government.

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

        On the plus side, this has been a nice little refresher course in flag history and the like. For those of us who like facts, anyway.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/john_g2708 john g

    I can't believe the things people will try to make an issue of. The C is a completely different colour and looks nothing like the Conservative "C". The maple leaf is a different shade of red and looks completely different from the maple leaf in the Conservative logo. I would even say the designers went out of their way to avoid comparisons.

    • André

      That's a generous use of the word "completely" that a evokes a sense of myopy and astigmatism. There is a very basic resemblance: "C" with a maple leaf inside. Shade and shape doesn't matter. In branding terms it's close enough because most people wouldn't make a conscious connection but would, by the end of the Olympics, find the CPC logo more familiar and appeasing. If no one would have mentioned it, no one would have been the wiser.

      Of course it could still be just a coincidence…

  • http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

    This is hilarious. I love goofy sideshows like this. Hopefully Ignatieff will integrate the Olympic logo complaint into his stump speeches, just like he tried to politicize that body bag shipment. It will do wonders for his reputation as a serious thinker. Bring on the theatrics!

    /end sarcasm

    • kcm

      Surely you jest? The whole freaking term of this govt has been one long theatrical sideshow.

    • wilson

      This is lol hilarious!
      What a timely diversion to Don Martin's juicy morsel that rumor is
      at least one Liberal is talking about crossing the floor…….

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/VinceClortho VinceClortho

      well you raise an interesting question…..how coordinated was this……it has that new war room smell to it……I would be amazed if it makes it past tomorrow…..if he leads with it next QP then I think we can officially say he is getting bad advice.

      As well, why would they muddle the message of their leaders speech today? Let alone shoot first calling Olympic atheletes into question. This is ;ike the wheel falling off that horsecart for Paul Martin…..martin is driving that cart hard like there is nothing wrong. Iggy is equally unaware.

      Somewhere Bob Rae is slapping his forehead and saying, "why did I agree to no leadership contest again?"

      The Liberal elders will not let the Party risk being Dionized again. Hebert said it best on At Issue tonight….either Iggy backs off or Layton and Harper will let him have his death wish, her words, when it makes the most sense to them, in 6 months or so. She is a pretty sober observer, and she said if he doesnt come off his current trajectory things are going to get a lot worse…..she is a very good listener.

  • Lord Kitchener's Own

    Just saw the commercial for the new Olympic clothing. Good commercial actually, imho. Really leverages the whole Hudson Bay Company history, pioneering spirit and all that. And the clothes actually look good in the commercial (they show the nice sweater, and you can't see the lame C logo anywhere, plus they only show the clothes themselves for like three seconds at the end of the commercial).

    I sill call "epic fail" based on the pics I've seen, but I kinda want one of those sweaters now.

    One thing that's interesting is how much the iconic HBC blanket pattern (you know, the primary colour thing… does it have a name?) appears in the commercials, given that I think it's largely ignored in the design. Is it just me that thinks using that pattern would be more historic/interesting than what they came up with? I suppose that would have been way too risky, and people would have accused HBC of clothing the athletes in corporate clothing, but that whole pattern really is quite historic and meaningful, and personally, I think I would have liked it.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/ottawasteph ottawasteph

      I have an HBC scarf from the 2006 Winter Games. It has the Bat colours plus black & blue, like the Olympic Rings. Clever, that.

    • http://www.intensedebate.com/people/ottawasteph ottawasteph

      I have an HBC scarf from the 2006 Winter Games. It has the Bay colours plus black & blue, like the Olympic Rings. Clever, that.

  • Lord Kitchener's Own

    Maybe I'm the only one that cares, but it would be cool if someone at Macleans could make a post about the outfits that's separate from the partisan silliness so we could discuss what we think of the outfit sartorially, and as the uniform of our home team.

  • wilson

    Yet another logo scandal,
    the new Tim Horton logo
    http://www.drawscene.com/timlogo1.png

    • wilson

      Funniest comment on this faux scandal goes to the author of this post, Mitchel Raphael:

      And what if the Liberals would have been in power and a similar ”coincidence” happened ? Maybe Canadian Olympic athletes would have been walking around with a big “L” on their foreheads.

  • ctm

    I miss roots!!!

  • je suis incompetent

    Well, the flag was already taken as a partisan logo, so i'd actually give points for creativity!

    • Lord Kitchener's Own

      OMG STOP SAYING THAT!!!

      People really need to read all the many, many comments above before posting tripe like that. Again. I'm getting tired of posting the same rebuttals to that idiotic flag line over, and over, and over again! This whole Olympic logo thing is completely idiotic, but do we have to compound the idiocy by bringing up the one parallel bit of hyperbolic inanity that, if this is possible, is even MORE STUPID!?!?!?

  • Dakota

    Wow, the lib-lefties must have ordered the tin foil hats and are upset that hey didn't get them.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/psiclone psiclone

      they need to re-up the med's ineir kool aid!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/avr avr

    From a graphic design perspective, this is like saying that the CBC and AT&T logos are alike because they both use circular, stylized globe-like motifs suggesting dimensionality. There's a wealth of tangentially similar designs including a C for Canada and a maple leaf – so many that the combination of "circular motif, circular letter, red, blue and/or black, and maple leaves" fits over 62,000 registered trade-marks known to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.

    (And if Hedy Fry really wants to press the issue of partisan political identification and national symbols, we could always consider the curious matter of why Pearson's choice for the flag included only Liberal red…)

  • http://www.intensedebate.com/people/avr avr

    From a graphic design perspective, this is like saying that the CBC and AT&T logos are alike because they both use circular, stylized globe-like motifs suggesting dimensionality. There's a wealth of tangentially similar designs including a C for Canada and a maple leaf – so many that the descriptive combination of "circular motif, circular letter, red, blue and/or black, and maple leaves" fits over 62,000 registered trade-marks known to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. It's a "brazen and obvious" attempt to work the Conservative logo into the Olympic Team's uniforms only if you are very, very stupid or very, very high.

    (And if Hedy Fry really wants to press the issue of partisan political identification and national symbols, we could always consider the curious matter of why Pearson's choice for the flag included only Liberal red…)

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