Perception is a tricky thing, no? Seems like we’re always looking at things and applying our personal prejudices to whatever we see.
Take this thing at left, for example. This is the logo for the 2012 Summer Olympics to be held in London.
It’s a little blocky, sure. The colors? Kinda garish. For people who read things left to right, it looks like a person getting ready to run, or the numbers 2 0 1 2 with a little dash thrown in there just to be visually confusing. Why not?
So, let’s say you’re someone who reads things vertically. Or maybe you read right to left. What does this look like to you? Bahram Afsharzadeh, the secretary-general of Iran’s National Olympic Committee, says it spells Z I O N, a biblical term for Jerusalem.
How very dare they (the IOC) select a logo that so blatantly supports Zionism? How very dare they. “There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the games, especially Iran, which abides by commitment to the values and principles,” Afsharzadeh said in the letter to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge.
For their part, the IOC, and the London organizers of next year’s event, put their thumbtips together and raised their index fingers in a big W for “whateverr, mister crazypants” gesture. The official response, as reported by the BBC and the Los Angeles Times, went like this: “Our response is as follows: The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else.”
Let’s hope Afsharzadeh gets over his tizz real soon now, shall we?
Fake logo via.
Real logo via.
Hilarious remix of the real logo via.