ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the context for interpreting the London 2012 emblem and explains the numerous, seemingly incoherent reactions it triggered, from the day of its launch through the period of the Games more than five years later. It also describes the conflicting aspirations of the main actors in the controversy. The Beijing Olympics controversy fully incarnated the hunger by a multitude of groups, noted by media theorist Monroe Price, to take advantage of this elaborate forum to advance political and commercial messages. The Olympics were viewed by many as a vehicle for neoliberal strategies that would result in accentuating the social inequality of this modern metropolis and particularly East London. According to the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) news, the London 2012 logo was characterized by the Olympic Committee of Iran as promoting the Jewish State and as 'racist', and Iran threatened to boycott the London Olympics.
