How annoying! Hypocrites, er, sponsors can use ORN lanes!
Bizarrely, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has had a go at Coca Cola, Olympic sponsors for 85 years, for deciding to bus their employees and guests to Stratford. Others have condemned them for breaking the 'Olympic Spirit'!
Phil and other Tory politicians seem to think the purveyors of teeth decaying liquids have broken a pledge to use public transport! But as Phil was forced to concede: "When the Olympics bid was accepted part of the deal was that there would be dedicated Olympic lanes for competitors and, unfortunately, the sponsors, so it will be Coca-Cola executives. That will be annoying, hopefully the rest won't grind to a halt."
So actually he is well aware that the 'deal' included 'dedicated Olympic lanes for competitors and, unfortunately, the SPONSORS'! So precisely which part of the deal or the 'Olympic Spirit' is Killer Coke breaking?
But then politicians have to empathise with the suffering of the public even when they are the ones who cause that suffering. Maybe Phil was just letting off a gaseous burp after a Coke too many!
The fact that special lanes will carry sponsors' guests during a supposedly 'car free' Games, when ordinary Londoners will suffer massive transport disruption and commuters are told to stay at home, is plainly absurd. As is SlickCoe's assertion that these are 'going to work' lanes! London 2012 is strengthening its claim to be one of the best stand-up shows around, with the ORN one of its best routines, and it still has almost a year to run.
Regardless of that, Killer Coke are quite clear about their rights. "As a Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Games we will, along with other sponsors, be given access to the Olympic Road Network."
Not only that but "many of our guests who will travel via the ORN will be our consumers, who have won VIP experiences through promotions." So they're just your average VIP Joes!
And "most of the vehicles we use will be buses, so as to use the ORN as efficiently as possible." So no fancy Zil limos. Just your (Blair bog) standard buses. Who are the hypocrites now?
As the longest serving Olympics sponsor KCola, who 'share the values of Olympism at their deepest level', should be pretty clear by now what represents the 'Olympic Spirit'.
And it doesn't include them taking the Tube!
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Fri, 07/10/2011 - 23:42.
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