The Golden Arches and the Olympic Rings

I have been lucky enough to attend three Olympic Games: Calgary and Seoul in 1988 and Vancouver in 2010. Lucky because there really is no spectacle like an Olympics. It’s not just the competition on the field of play. Anyone from Calgary or Vancouver who was there during the Games will know what I’m talking about: the host city takes on an electric personality during the two weeks of the Olympics.

But as Laurel Walzak of Ryerson University explains, the Olympic brand has taken a hit lately. That’s part of the reason the International Olympic Committee decided Tuesday to break from precedent by announcing it would award both the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics at the same time. The bidding process to host the Olympics has itself become a controversy. And so was a decision last month by McDonald’s to end a 40-year sponsorship agreement with the Olympics. Laurel’s analysis offers some new insights on why the Golden Arches and the Olympic Rings are no longer a good fit.

(Gratuitous editor’s note: Check out the photo credit on the lead picture accompanying Laurel’s article. I have it under good authority the “photographer” got the shot when a famished Alexandre Bilodeau, who had just become the first Canadian to win a gold medal on home soil, stopped at the McDonald’s at the Olympic Main Press Centre after speaking with the media for hours on end.)

We also offer up today two articles on important issues impacting our society: Nicole Letourneau, professor of nursing and medicine at the University of Calgary, explores the problems when ill-informed personal opinions about vaccinations and other issues trump Evidence Based Medicine; Sandra Riano of Royal Roads University explains her research into how Canadian media coverage of the arrival of Syrian refugees in 2015 “served to dehumanize them and suggested the public should be on guard and ignore their plight.”

Regards,

Scott White

Editor

Top story
McDonald’s unexpectedly ended its worldwide sponsorship of the Olympics last month. Here Canadian gold medallist Alexandre Bilodeau gets a snack at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Scott White)

The Olympic-McDonald's breakup: It’s not you, it’s us

Laurel Walzak, Ryerson University

McDonald's recently ended a 40-year relationship with the Olympics. Was the decision based on the tarnished Olympic brand or were there other reasons?

Politics

  • Canada's Syrian refugees ill-served by media coverage

    Sandra M. Riano, Royal Roads University

    News organizations have a powerful role in informing the public about refugee and migrant issues. Research shows they've struggled to do so in a way that humanizes Syrian refugees.

Health + Medicine

  • Public health at risk when opinion trumps evidence

    Nicole Letourneau, University of Calgary

    In an era when opinion often trumps evidence in public health issues, it's time to support and invest in evidence-based medicine to protect the public from dangerous, poorly informed beliefs.

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