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As the Olympics approaches, I must confess that I am rather looking forward to it.
Oh not to the games, but rather anticipating almost everyone I know departing this beautiful Shire of York and giving me some peace. With 11 million tickets available and 75% going to UK spectators, there are over 2 million people flocking to London for the games which are being hosted in London for the first time since 1948.
Whether one happens to be interested in watching the games or not, one cannot escape the Olympics. The news screams about the costs escalating to almost £10 billion and we're swamped by Olympic themed marketing... for the next 2 weeks we are all eating, sleeping and breathing it.
Speaking of eating, I am predictably enraged by the sponsors this year; (McDonalds, Heineken and Coca-Cola OH MY!). It's no secret that 1/4 of the UK population are obese which relates to £4 billion of related healthcare costs and £1.7 billion of alcohol related healthcare costs. So why in the name of Tom Daley's triceps are we allowing these companies to sponsor the biggest sporting event of the year?
Tradition you may say... after all Coca-Cola have sponsored the Olympic games since 1928 and McDonalds since 1976. Given that 150,000 condoms are being shipped to the Olympic village and their use is still outlawed by the Catholic church I can't really say that tradition comes into it.
McDonalds and Coca-Cola are both aiming to promote health and fitness from "Hop Skip Jump" pedometers being included with Happy Meals to Coca-Cola promoting "Healthy Lifestyles", they're certainly getting into the Olympic Spirit.
Forgive me though if I remain unmoved. The London Assembly urged the International Olympic Committee to adopt stricter criteria for sponsorship of the Games, but this was overruled.
After all 59 million people in 11 countries visit McDonalds every day and 1 billion people drink Coca-Cola every day... from a marketing perspective these companies could cease and desist all advertising and still remain two of the biggest brands in the world.
And no matter how eco-friendly and sustainable the Olympics aim to be, when it comes down to it, ethics go out of the windows when faced with the awesome buying power of these companies.
That's hardly sporting...