Overview

The 2012 Summer Olympics (The Games of the XXX Olympiad) was a major international multi-sport event held in London, United Kingdom from July 27th to August 12th, 2012. More than 10,000 athletes representing 204 countries took part in the Summer Olympics, which also marked the first Olympic Games where all competing teams had a minimum of one female competitor. The 2012 Summer Paralympics, a similar competitive event for athletes with physical disabilities, began on August 29th and continued until September 9th, 2012.

Background

London won the bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore on the July 6th, 2005 outbidding Paris, Madrid, New York City and Moscow. The city won by promising to deliver an environmentally-sustainable Olympics which will inspire the world's youth. London is the only city to this point to host the Olympics three times. Due to the high profile status of the event and as with the previous games, London Olympics received intensive media coverage from all over the world, both through traditional news media outlets as well as in online social media.

The anticipation of Olympics-inspired memes became evident long before the opening ceremony through the launch of Olympics Memes page on Facebook, which had gained more than 211,000 likes by the end of August 2012.

Notable Developments

London 2012 Official Logo

On June 4th, 2007, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOGOC) unveiled the official logo designed by Wolff Olins, a London-based branding company, which consisted of a rough depiction of an athlete's body in four colors, each reflecting the city's impact on the progress of modern society. The logo was designed to appeal to young people in its unusual shape and strikingly colorful design. However, the logo was also met by some criticisms and negative reception; In a survey poll conducted by the BBC in the UK in June 2007, 80% of all votes strongly disapproved of the logo. Iran threatened to boycott the games on the grounds that the logo could be spelled out as "Zion" (a synonym for Jerusalem) in English.

As a result of the controversy, the logo gained some memetic qualities as well. Some online users joked that the logo bears resemblance to a Rule 34 cartoon of Lisa Simpson performing a blow job for Bart Simpson, two characters from the animated TV series The Simpsons. A quick rearrangement of the colors makes this visualisation easier to understand.

Spain’s Olympic Uniform Kit

Spain’s Official Olympic Uniform quickly became an online gossip topic after a number of Spanish Olympian athletes tweeted pictures of themselves grimacing while wearing the kits in the days leading up to the opening ceremony. Designed by the Russian fashion firm Bosco Sport, the uniforms quickly became a target of public ridicule and criticisms mainly due to its perceived tackiness and garish pattern designs.

One Is Not Amused

One is Not Amused is one of the first image macro memes to emerge from the games, based on a photograph of Queen Elizabeth II looking disgruntled during her appearance at the opening ceremony event. The phrase “One is Not Amused” is derived from another LOLcat image macro series known as X is Not Amused.

Perfectly Timed Diving Photos

Perfectly Timed Photos from the Olympic events also became a popular topic. On July 30th, the blog PetaPixel^[30] published a post titled “The Hilariously Contorted Faces of Divers in Mid-Air”, which featured several photographs of Olympic divers with pained-looking expressions while performing a dive. On the same day, the entertainment news blog Hollywood published a post titled “Get the Gold Medal in Meme with These LOLympics Pictures”, highlighting several image macros using photos of Olympic athletes mid-performance.

Olympics or Gay Porn?

Olympics or Gay Porn? is a photoshop meme in which screen captured images from the London 2012 Olympics are altered to look like they were taken from an adult entertainment film. The images typically feature a progress bar or a lower third banner covering the athlete’s mid-section to appear as if the subject is not wearing any clothes, in similar vein to unnecessary censorship and bubbling.

Dangling Boris

Dangling Boris is an exploitable photoshop meme showing a picture of Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London on a zip line holding two Union Jack flags. Johnson was testing a zip line in Victoria Park, London on the 1st of August, 2012 when the zip line got stuck 10 meters above the ground. Now, the event has spawned many 'photoshopped' images of Boris during the incident.

McKayla is Not Impressed

McKayla is Not Impressed is a photoshop meme and image macro series of U.S. gymnastic athlete McKayla Maroney, with an unimpressed or disappointed expression as she receives a silver medel for the Women's Vault. It is a derivative of Spock is not Impressed which is basically the same meme, but with Spock from the Star Trek TV series. The meme is usually photoshopped into other photos or is an image macro.

Bolting

Bolting is a pose popularised by Usain Bolt after winning the men's 100m and setting a new world record speed of 9.69 seconds. The pose was originally introduced by Bolt during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but gained popularity in London. Bolting has since become a widespread photo fad, in a similar fashion to planking. A similar pose is The 'Mobot', which came from British Somali track and field athlete Mohamed Farah who struck the pose after winning the 10,000m. ^{[Citation Needed]}

Mo Farah Running Away From Things

Mo Farah Running Away From Things is photoshop meme based on a photograph of the British track and field athlete Mo Farah^[1] taken during the 5,000-meter race event on August 11th, iin which he appears as if running away in horror from something. As he crossed the finish line, he was photographed with his arms spread making an incredibly surprised expression with his mouth agape.

Search Interest

External References