Missing the Whole Olympic Point

I received a piece of direct mail advertising today that really missed the Olympic point.

Established to celebrate all that is good in humanity, and to find ways to unite people, nations and cultures through the power of sport, the Olympic movement is arguably one of the great achievements of international cooperation.

So I was intrigued to see a black envelope in the mail today with a large Hockey Canada logo emblazoned on the front. Unfortunately, its contents seem to contradict all the openness and the spirit of community of the Olympic ideals.

Presented by the Vancouver Board of Trade (of which I’ve been a member up until this year) and Concord Place, the brochure invites me to “enjoy an exclusive, limited-time offer” to “enjoy the 2010 Winter Olympics… in the middle of the action…. For the entire 17 days of the Olympics [I can] have [my] own reserved seating area for 8 guests. Complimentary gourmet food and beverages will be available while [I] take in all the action on screen and on the stage” in the Molson Canadian Hockey House.

And this can be mine—and I assume yours, too—in exchange for nothing more than $68,000! (Plus “applicable taxes and fees,” of course!)

It’s hard to know where to begin….

Read the rest of this entry »