Olympics 2012 Greenwash Gold Awards
Olympic Values
When I think about what the modern day Olympic Games stand for and promote, the first thing that comes to mind is a worldwide celebration of sporting excellence and a coming together of communities and countries from around the globe.
Sporting events such as the Olympics have a very unique and special place on the world stage, as it is a time when people forget their differences for a few short weeks and focus all their energy into a single united event. This is a time when the entire world’s media attention is pinpointed on one place, and in 2012 that attention was directed at the UK.
Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Modern Olympic Movement saw in the Games an ideal opportunity to develop a set of universal principles – or Values – that could be applied to education and to society as a whole, as well as to sport itself.
These Values, as they appear on the London2012 website are:
- respect – fair play; knowing one’s own limits; and taking care of one’s health and the environment
- excellence – how to give the best of oneself, on the field of play or in life; taking part; and progressing according to one’s own objectives
- friendship – how, through sport, to understand each other despite any differences
Environmentally Friendly and Ethically Aware
As far as sporting events are concerned, the event has been hugely successful, but sadly the organisation, funding, and ethical issues which have been raised leave us with one hell of a nasty taste in our mouths.
The London 2012 organising committee announced to the world that they were going to be putting on an environmentally friendly and ethically aware event, in spite of this, it seems as if pound signs were flashing in front of their eyes when they decided which partners and sponsors to sign up with.
You might have thought that with the whole world looking and younger generations watching the event with impressionable eyes that they would have been very selective in who they chose to partner with; however, looking down the list of sponsors, it appears that both environment and ethics quickly fell to the wayside.
The Best of the Bunch?
When we dig a little deeper into who exactly the Olympic sponsors are, what we discover is quite simply disgusting. A number of companies have been highlighted by the Greenwash Gold 2012 Blog, which held a vote for readers to decide upon the worst offending sponsors. Rio Tinto ended up with the gold medal for their participation in the games, which is rather ironic as they were actually the providers of the Olympic medals!
Above: The Greenwash Gold Award Ceremony in Trafalgar Square
Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto are a huge British based company who have worldwide operations in different mining and extraction processes and their company image is certainly not one to be proud of!
The local people in the surrounding areas of many of the mines and quarries have been battling against Rio Tinto for a number of years due to the large scale pollution problems they have afflicted. One example of this is their mine in Utah, which is said to be responsible for over 30% of the air pollution in the area. Incidentally the air quality is so poor that over 1,000 people die each year as a result of this pollution.
The Utah facility is one of the locations that the metal for the Olympic medals actually came from, which just goes to show how much the Olympic Committee care about their green credentials! There are numerous other cases from all over the world, where Rio Tinto have shown less regard for the health of the local people and environment than they have for their profits.
BP
Another company which was in the running for the Greenwash Gold award was the huge oil company BP. Now surely it would not have taken much detective work to find out that BP are actually one of the most environmentally destructive companies on Earth, yet this point obviously seemed irrelevant to the members of the Organising committee who were cashing in on the sponsorship deal.
What sort of exampling are we setting for the rest of the world when companies such as these are being advertised at a supposedly ‘environmentally aware’ event? BP are involved in the extraction of limited natural resources from the Earth and they make billions of pounds each year from the destruction and pollution of our planet; yet they are plastered all over billboards, products, venues, and media programs, being praised as positive Olympic partners.
They even went as far as to shut down their solar power department recently as it was deemed to be unprofitable. What sort of ethical and environmental message is that sending out? Amazingly, to top it all off, BP were actually given the Sustainability Partner award by the organisers of the games!
DOW Chemical Company
The third company that were being considered for the gold medal for the Greenwash Gold Award were the DOW Chemical Company. Dow has one of the worst customer relations and environmental track records of any company out there, and it seems almost unbelievable that the Olympic Games would want to associate themselves with business like this.
From chemical spillages to air and water pollution, to merging with even more controversial companies than themselves, it seems difficult to see any reason why the games would want to be involved with them……..except for a big pay cheque!
Morality Vs Money
It seems as if money reigns supreme in almost all aspects of society and that even an event which is supposed to be a showcase of sporting talent, ends up being another billboard opportunity for the destructive mega companies of the world.
With huge amounts of people from all over the globe watching, it could have been a great opportunity for the organising committee to highlight some positive, environmentally sound and ethically conscious businesses. They claimed to be striving towards these values, yet when you look down the long list of questionable sponsors it seems as if morality and positive image took a backseat to the large wallets of the multinational giants.
http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenwashGold
Read MoreVimeo Festival + Awards 2012
The Vimeo Awards celebrate the world’s best videos, and the people who created them. This spectacular visual festival and award ceremony is held in the heart of legendary Chelsea area of New York.
Prizes include $5,000 grants in 13 categories, plus a $25,000 Grand Prize — all to reward creators and help them make new work.
The festival on June 8th and 9th includes talks by speakers which cover the most salient topics in video production today, an area which is explored in even more detail in the many excellent workshops available over the period.
Of course the highlight are the screenings of the videos themselves.
13 Winning videos have been chosen from an original submisson of 14,567 videos – the quality and diversity of imagination in the work is quite phenomemal.
You can see the full schedule of events here:
The event ends on a high with a great all-night party, with a DJ (and an open bar)
TALKS/CONVERSATIONS
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Keynote Address: the End of the Beginning With Dr. Reginald Watts
The illustrious Internetologist Dr. Reginald Watts returns to the Vimeo Festival + Awards to discuss his latest theories on the tubes, wires, and webs that connect us all. This weekend he addresses a key question: How do you know whether you’re at the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?
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The Self-Expression Tsunami
At what point does information about a person become a little too much information? 2010 Festival + Awards Honorary Award-winner Casey Neistat and Sundance winner Josh Safdie explore the growing number of ways in which people divulge seemingly everything about their lives online. Whether we think it’s too much or not enough, these personal sharing trends change the ways we understand our friends, family, and colleagues—and our own place in the world.
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Director Profiles: Steve James and Lucy Walker
Who best to interview a master of interview techniques? Another interview master, obviously. In a very special event, documentarians and unparalleled question-askers Steve James and Lucy Walker take to the stage together to grill each other on their careers, their creative processes, and how they get their subjects to open up on camera.
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Limited Editions in the Digital World
The art experience has moved beyond the museum gallery to become a dialogue between people and the devices on their desks and in their pockets. How can digital and media artists be effective players in shaping this trend and distribute their art online without giving it all away? How does encountering art online affect its interpretation? Media artist Marco Bambrilla and MoMA curator Barbara London discuss the issues and opportunities that the digital world and the Internet offer artists.
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The Future of Creative Careers
The landscape of creative work is changing. Much of the friction that once inhibited independent careers has been removed, and the distance between idea and execution is smaller than ever. During this Q&A, featuring Scott Belsky, CEO of Behance and author of Making Ideas Happen, we will explore the ways in which our professional output is powered by the latest technology and shaped by the new ways in which we collaborate.
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Advertising Adapts: What’s a Brand to Do?
There have been seismic shifts in the advertising industry since TV moved on- demand and audiences moved online. Viewers are increasingly sophisticated, and advertising has evolved in tandem, with brands delivering messages through clever content that viewers choose to watch and share. This discussion tries to identify the line between advertising and entertainment, and examines the consequences – both positive and negative – of erasing that line altogether.
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Director Profiles: Daniels
Two guys, one name, one singular vision. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert recently burst onto the scene with videos and commercials that turn chaos into humor and beauty. We ask them to sit still for a moment and tell us where they came from, what shaped their worldview, and why they refuse to be serious even for one second.
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The New Viral Video: From Keyboard Cat to Ideas Worth Spreading
Videos with millions of views come in many flavors, but they have a common thread: they inspire us to share them with others. Viral videos have often provided decidedly ephemeral entertainment—think cats playing pianos and dogs riding skateboards. Yet TED is at the forefront of a burgeoning trend that puts ideas worth spreading high up on the list of things your friends and family simply have to watch. What makes users want to share a meaningful video? What drives success? With more than 750 million views to date, the TED case study illuminates some of the most important trends defining the new viral video.
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Going Pro
So, you want to do this for a living, huh? The gap between serious amateur and budding professional can look quite large, so we’re bringing in some new and seasoned pros to share their perspectives on making the leap. We’ll talk with experts Kevin Iwashina, a film, tv & digitalcontent producer and media advisor who spent 10 years working as an agent at CAA and Lana Kim, who represents directors such as Megaforce,Andy Bruntel, Romain Gavras, and Sofia Coppola. We’ll also get the scoop from director Nima Nourizadeh, who recently made the journey from creating low-budget music videos to directing Project X, his first feature in Hollywood.
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Failure FTW
Not succeeding plays a hugely important role in the creative process. This session features Ted Hope and Ed Burns discussing the importance of embracing failure in creative work, with postcards from their own personal dark days—jobs that went wrong, ideas that fizzled out, expectations decidedly unexceeded—and exploring how failing miserably is crucial to artistic achievement (and even finding happiness).
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Director Profiles: Saman Keshavarz
Saman Keshavarz was born in Tehran, Iran, raised in the United States, and, according to the bio on his blog, his last known whereabouts were in Smurf Land. But the director, whose music videos for !!!, Cinnamon Chasers, and Deus have made him one of the field’s rising stars, will be right here at the Festival to take us through his journey so far — and let us know what lands he plans to explore next.
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World Premiere of ‘Limbo,’ the New Film by 2010 Grand Prize Winner Eliot Rausch
At the 2010 Festival + Awards, Eliot Rausch took home top honors for his touching film “Last Minutes with Oden.” During this profile, Eliot will tell us how winning the Grand Prize changed his life and what he’s been up to since. The session includes the world premiere of Eliot’s new film, “Limbo,” which he made with his 2010 prize money, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at how the Limbo came to life.
Saturday
Putting the Fun in Funding
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When it comes to obtaining a decent budget for your project, you are no longer reduced to groveling at the feet of rich friends. This session looks at three more dignified ways to find funding: through grant organizations, crowd-sourcing, and brands that want to catalyze great content. Kickstarter’s Art Program Director Stephanie Pereira, The Creators Project’s Global General Manager Hosi Simon, and Adella Ladjevardi, Grants Manager at funding body Cinereach, will tell us how they work, what they’re looking for in projects, and what you need to know when approaching them.
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Building Your Audience
You’ve spent lots of time, energy, and money making your film, and once it’s done you want make sure it doesn’t end up like a wallflower at the online video party—you need to actively seek out watchers. Vimeo’s Blake Whitman, director Philip Bloom and designer Nick Campbell get down to some serious talk around how to grow and maintain an audience for your work.
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The Art of Getting Paid
Yes, you create because you love doing it, but imagine loving doing it while being compensated appropriately—or even handsomely. Learn where the money is and how to get to it in this insightful look at the financial side of filmmaking through the eyes of fundraising expert and all-round maverick Brian Newman.
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The Science of Storytelling
With high-quality camera equipment now widely accessible, almost anyone can shoot videos that look good. But pretty pictures get you only so far — the way to truly captivate viewers is by telling a story that grips from the get-go and hangs on well after the final frame. And while we can feel that stories are powerful, there’s science behind them, too. Jonathan Gottschall, author of The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, draws on the latest research in neuroscience, psychology, and biology to argue that storytelling has evolved to ensure our species’ survival. With insight on the basic human impulses behind tragedies, comedies, and cliffhangers, this session is a must for anyone who wants to tell a story that hits audiences in the heart, the gut, and other important organs.
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One Day on Earth – Connecting the World Through Video
The Internet has enabled creators to call upon the world to act, uniting people and helping us work together on a global scale. This session shines a light on one of our favorite collaborative projects, One Day on Earth, and on how the group galvanized people all over the world to work together on a film that captures what happens on our planet in a single day.
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Director Profiles: Vincent Laforet
Vincent Laforet started by making a splash in the world of still photography, working for The New York Times at the tender age of 25 and winning a Pulitzer Prize. He’s since turned to moving images and maintained pace — he received Cannes Lions Awards for Canon’s “Beyond The Still,” and his recent short “Mobius” for the same camera brand immediately went viral. We’ll talk to Vincent about his accomplishments and learn how budding filmmakers can achieve big goals.
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Beyond the Screen: Notes from the Bleeding Edge of Filmmaking
Executing big ideas can require big technology, and the most forward-looking filmmakers are inventing their own to bring groundbreaking concepts to life. From holographs to projection maps to apps that facilitate extraordinary levels of audience interaction, the topics of this conversation run the gamut: what’s hot now, what’s next, even what hasn’t been thought of yet. Participating are two of the industry’s leading innovators: Kenzo Digital, the new media heavyweight and creative director behind work for Nike, Beyonce, the Obama campaign, and Nam Jun Paik Studios; and Loc Dao, the award-winning executive producer and creative technologist for the National Film Board of Canada’s digital studio. Led by moderator Lance Weiler, the pair will discuss the technology they are most excited about, how new tools spark new ideas, and why telling a great story is still of paramount importance.
VIMEO
Vimeo is a US based video sharing website where users can upload, view and share videos. It was founded in 2004 by Zach Klein and Jake Lodwick, who created the name “Vimeo”, which plays on the words video and “me” to emphasise the site’s dedication to user-made videos. The name is also an anagram of the word “movie”.
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