2012 Olympics: Not a Rave

YO! FRESH! 2012 logo

Remember that time at the skating rink in '86 when you were playing Zaxxon and got to that level with crazy loops and tunnels, and you couldn't figure out the perspective, so you died in, like, 10 seconds? London's new 2012 Olympics logo is like that. No one can quite figure out what it says unless he or she has watched Breakin' one too many times, written graffiti in the '80s, decorated a jacket from Chess King with a metallic-colored pen, or recently rediscovered Ecstasy in London's new rave scene.

The animated, hot pink 2012 logo cost taxpayers £400,000 ($797,000) and has already generated thousands of comments, mostly negative, on the BBC website and others. With a building, peaking techno track in the background, a brand video clearly demonstrates that no one is immune to these new rave Olympics—not construction workers, not some dudes playing murderball, not the earth itself.

And although the logo clearly taps the sensibilities of anyone who ever wore a Pac-Man T-shirt (without irony), the people responsible say, "The new 2012 emblem will use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people." The Guardian puts it like this: "Others would say that it represents the multi-coloured vomit sprayed across the capital's pavements at 3 a.m. on your average Sunday morning."