Thursday, September 24, 2009

Just a tease?

C is for Canada, conservative and champions.

Canada’s 2010 Winter Olympic athletes will be sporting a conservative look in their quest to Own the Podium at the Vancouver Games in February.

This is in stark contrast to the very loud styles worn at Beijing 2008. Those duds were a dud, because they earned a thumbs down from consumers and the media. They were stacking 'em deep and selling 'em cheap even before the Games opened!

I spotted the items below on the shelves and racks Sept. 23 at the Park Royal location of Hudson’s Bay Company, the VANOC sponsor/Canadian Olympic Committee supplier. Is HBC quietly slipping some items into stores to create a buzz? Or did somebody open some important boxes before they were supposed to?

The black circular C on white with the red maple leaf in the middle is prominently featured. Another icon features a shield with a black, snow-capped mountain above ocean waves with 2010 in white across the middle. The shirts and drink containers include O Canada lyrics True North, Strong and Free.

True North, Strong and Free. It’s also used as the minority Conservative government’s slogan. The Tories, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, view the Games as a an international image-building vehicle to exert sovereignty over the Arctic and boost the might of Canada’s military, which is fighting in Afghanistan.

Official unveiling is Oct. 1 at the downtown Vancouver HBC store, site of the official Olympic Superstore.

Canada's 2010 Olympic team T-shirts.

HBC-designed Canadian Olympic team logo.

HBC's Chinese-style 2008 team clothes were panned.

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