GREENWASHED OLYMPICS LONDON

Greenwashed similar to whitewashed,  is a form of spin or subtle lies in which green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to push the perception of aims and policies that are environmentally friendly. Sometimes to increase profits, sometimes to gain political support, it manipulates popular opinion to support otherwise unethical or criminal exploitation.


Does London have small dick syndrome with its huge ferris wheel, massive gherkin or is it a sense of inadequacy over its lost empire perhaps ?. Now this summer it will have the world's largest McDonald's, near the Olympic village, with 9,800 square feet of two floors in East London, it can cater for 1,500 diners. Currenty if you buy a 'Happy Meal' in the UK, you will get a pedometer to track hops, skips and jumps to "help" the child-friendly Olympic mascots get to the Olympic games. McDonald's peddle Olympic 'Happy Meals'. So the official "restaurant" of the Olympics in London is teaching kids to eat junk more frequently and then move more.

Olympic co-branding typifies in this instance, what is in it for McDonald's, allowing them to spread the idea that "movement" and "exercise" are healthy, implying if you're active, junk food is not important. Shifting the blame from diet intake to output for children with powerful emotions associated with the Olympic games is gold for McDonalds.Terence Stephenson, a spokesman for the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges says,  "It's very sad that an event that celebrates the very best of athletic achievements should be sponsored by companies contributing to the obesity problem and unhealthy habits," They are calling on the British Government to rein in the likes of McDonalds.


Stratfor, the US intelligence analysis firm, was hired by Dow Chemical to spy on activists protesting against the 1984 Bhopal gas leak, revealed by WikiLeaks. According to WikiLeaks, Stratfor fronts as an intelligence publisher, but is in fact a private intelligence agency.


 Its clients reportedly include Dow Chemical, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and United States government agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Marines and the Defence Intelligence Agency.

On Bhopal, Stratfor analysed the online activities of activists, including the "yes men" for Dow Chemical. The activists seek redress for the gas leak that killed more than 15,000 people in Bhopal causing environmental damage still not repaired.