Locog are investigating allegations that soft toy versions of the London 2012 mascots (Wenlock and Mandeville) are being made by poorly paid workers in a Chinese factory.
Golden Bear, based in Telford, has a licence to produce them. However, an inquiry has been launched after media reports about the pay and conditions of the workers making the toys at a factory in China.
AFP reports that Golden Bear and the London organisers, LOCOG, said they were taking "seriously" the allegations that workers making the mascots were working for more than 11 hours a day for as little as 26 pence an hour.
Locog are quoted:
"We have asked our independent monitor to carry out a comprehensive investigation and review of these allegations.
The outcome of this investigation will be made public as soon as it is concluded.
We have contacted all of our licensees to reiterate to them the importance we place on the sustainable sourcing code they have each signed up to."
Golden Bear said it was also conducting an immediate investigation, but confirmed that the factory in question had passed inspections by the International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI).
Golden Bear are quoted:
"Golden Bear is extremely concerned about recent reports that a factory involved in a small amount of the production of the company's Olympic product could be in breach of workers' rights.
We are a family-run business that takes these issues very seriously indeed and has in place certificates of compliance at all factories used to produce our products.
We are therefore in the process of conducting an immediate investigation and will be able to comment on these findings as soon as they are known to us."
In March 2010 I wrote the following:
"Olympic chiefs are keen to emphasise the legacy of the London Olympics 2012.
What they haven't specified until now is exactly which country's legacy they mean.
This question has now been answered, it is China's economic legacy that is being underpinned by the London Olympics.
That at least is the conclusion to be drawn from the announcement that a Chinese company has been picked to make special lapel pins for the 2012 games, British companies claim that they were denied the chance to even bid."
It is a pity that Locog did not heed this warning, had it done so it might have saved itself some embarrassment.
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
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www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Monday, 23 January 2012
Friday, 20 January 2012
The Olympics Home Guard
Burger van workers and other licensed mobile traders are being offered free counter-terrorism training to help them spot suspects who might be reconnoitring potential targets in the months leading up the London 2012 Olympics.
The courses are being offered by the Metropolitan police and Westminster council.
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
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The courses are being offered by the Metropolitan police and Westminster council.
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Jubilee To Outshine The Olympics
I am amused to see that the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this year is set to outshine the London 2012 Olympics, in terms of popularity and spectacle.
On Sunday, June 3, the Jubilee weekend will climax with a seven-mile flotilla of 1,000 boats making up the biggest gathering on the Thames in 350 years.
People are far more supportive and enthusiastic about the Jubilee, than they are about the Olympics.
This is hardly surprising given that the Jubilee will cost a lot less than the £12BN being wasted on the Olympics, and will cause far less disruption.
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
On Sunday, June 3, the Jubilee weekend will climax with a seven-mile flotilla of 1,000 boats making up the biggest gathering on the Thames in 350 years.
People are far more supportive and enthusiastic about the Jubilee, than they are about the Olympics.
This is hardly surprising given that the Jubilee will cost a lot less than the £12BN being wasted on the Olympics, and will cause far less disruption.
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Olympics Ticket Site Live Again
Locog have restrated the Olympics ticket site again, after is crashed last week.
However, it will not work as a live ticket exchange. Locog have offered to pay for any unwanted Olympic tickets until 3 Feb, but will not offer them for immediate resale.
Prospective purchasers will have to wait until April before they can attempt to secure the tickets.
Not at all impressive!
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
However, it will not work as a live ticket exchange. Locog have offered to pay for any unwanted Olympic tickets until 3 Feb, but will not offer them for immediate resale.
Prospective purchasers will have to wait until April before they can attempt to secure the tickets.
Not at all impressive!
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Friday, 13 January 2012
Olympics Ticketing Shambles Continues
Last Friday I wrote the following about the Olympics online ticket system crashing:
"Locog has been forced to suspend part of the Olympics ticket resale process this morning, after the website crashed because of the high volumes of users seeking to sell or buy Games tickets.
Sellers of tickets, that they do not want, have been unable to upload their tickets to the site.
Locog do not know why this problem has arisen.
The system is meant to be back on line, and working properly, this afternoon.
Is it?"
One week on, and in answer to my own question, the site is still not working!
"We're working night and day to sort it out" and "apologise for the frustration that people feel.
We're going to get it right and make sure we get as many people as possible to the Games."
Not very impressive!
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
"Locog has been forced to suspend part of the Olympics ticket resale process this morning, after the website crashed because of the high volumes of users seeking to sell or buy Games tickets.
Sellers of tickets, that they do not want, have been unable to upload their tickets to the site.
Locog do not know why this problem has arisen.
The system is meant to be back on line, and working properly, this afternoon.
Is it?"
One week on, and in answer to my own question, the site is still not working!
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has been forced to apologise for the shambles.
He is quoted by the BBC:
We're going to get it right and make sure we get as many people as possible to the Games."
Not very impressive!
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Beware The Ticket Touts
Selling tickets on the open market without permission from the Olympic authorities is a criminal offence in the UK under the London Olympic and Paralympic Games Act 2006.
However, the BBC reports that unofficial (and therefore illegal) ticket sellers have been appearing in Google sponsored adverts:
"Liz, who declined to give her full name, contacted the 5 live Investigates team.
"Me and my sisters decided to club together to buy our mum and dad some Olympic tickets," said Liz, who is from Solihull. "So we typed into Google 'Olympic tickets' and at the very, very top of the page was a link to a company called LiveOlympicTickets.
"It was a sponsored ad at the top of the page, so we presumed it was a trusted official site, and we spent £750 on two tickets for my mum and dad to see the 1500m, which is what my dad really wanted."
The advert Liz clicked on was one placed by Google's own AdWords advertising service - one of the company's main sources of income.
However, after placing her order, Liz received an email from the company informing her that they could not complete the sale until she faxed over a copy of her signature.
"That's when alarm bells began ringing," said Liz.
LiveOlympicTickets is not an officially recognised 2012 Olympic ticket reseller.
A family member of Liz's wrote to Google, and received this reply: "While Google AdWords provides a platform for companies to advertise their services, we are not responsible for, nor are we able to monitor the actions of each company."
Promoting ticket touts The Metropolitan Police, which is dedicated to stopping crime associated with the 2012 games through Operation Podium, said it is aware of LiveOlympicTickets and that the company is breaking the law.
However, as the company is registered overseas, it may be difficult to prosecute as it is outside the UK's jurisdiction.
The maximum penalty fine for reselling Olympic tickets without authorisation from the Olympic authorities was raised last year from £5,000 to £20,000.
Despite this, Google has placed adverts for unofficial ticket resellers which are breaking the law by selling London 2012 tickets to customers in the UK.
In this case, LiveOlympicTickets was Google's top sponsored link for 2012 tickets - and remained so for more than a week even after the Metropolitan Police had asked the search engine to remove the advertisement.
The company link was finally removed after 5 live Investigates contacted Google."
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
However, the BBC reports that unofficial (and therefore illegal) ticket sellers have been appearing in Google sponsored adverts:
"Liz, who declined to give her full name, contacted the 5 live Investigates team.
"Me and my sisters decided to club together to buy our mum and dad some Olympic tickets," said Liz, who is from Solihull. "So we typed into Google 'Olympic tickets' and at the very, very top of the page was a link to a company called LiveOlympicTickets.
"It was a sponsored ad at the top of the page, so we presumed it was a trusted official site, and we spent £750 on two tickets for my mum and dad to see the 1500m, which is what my dad really wanted."
The advert Liz clicked on was one placed by Google's own AdWords advertising service - one of the company's main sources of income.
However, after placing her order, Liz received an email from the company informing her that they could not complete the sale until she faxed over a copy of her signature.
"That's when alarm bells began ringing," said Liz.
LiveOlympicTickets is not an officially recognised 2012 Olympic ticket reseller.
A family member of Liz's wrote to Google, and received this reply: "While Google AdWords provides a platform for companies to advertise their services, we are not responsible for, nor are we able to monitor the actions of each company."
Promoting ticket touts The Metropolitan Police, which is dedicated to stopping crime associated with the 2012 games through Operation Podium, said it is aware of LiveOlympicTickets and that the company is breaking the law.
However, as the company is registered overseas, it may be difficult to prosecute as it is outside the UK's jurisdiction.
The maximum penalty fine for reselling Olympic tickets without authorisation from the Olympic authorities was raised last year from £5,000 to £20,000.
Despite this, Google has placed adverts for unofficial ticket resellers which are breaking the law by selling London 2012 tickets to customers in the UK.
In this case, LiveOlympicTickets was Google's top sponsored link for 2012 tickets - and remained so for more than a week even after the Metropolitan Police had asked the search engine to remove the advertisement.
The company link was finally removed after 5 live Investigates contacted Google."
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Monday, 9 January 2012
Olympics Censorship
Locog have banned the 70,000 volunteers for the London Olympics from getting into detailed discussions online about the Games.
Good luck policing that then!
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Good luck policing that then!
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
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