Higher, faster, stronger advertising

“I don’t see why, after all the money that Greek taxpayers will end up paying to host the games, McDonald’s should dictate what I can eat in my own city.”

Spectators that try to bring in non-Coca Cola and non-McDonald’s food and beverages into the Athens 2004 Olympics will be turned away at the gate. Staff have also been instructed to make people take off clothing or apparel with competitor’s logos on them. All US athletes at the winner’s podium must wear Adidas outfits.

It’s all part of the IOC’s “clean venue policy”, designed to stop competitors that haven’t paid sponsorship fees from waging “ambush marketing”.

I can understand their reasoning, but it seems quite extreme to me. Then again, these are probably the same sort of people that think telemarketing and popup windows are good ideas.