Tuesday, June the 5th, 2007
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The new logo for the 2012 London Olympics has caused a flap. Sorry, it's not a logo, it's a brand, a brand which, according to diminutive Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, “takes our values to the world beyond our shores, acting both as an invitation and an inspiration”. I agree, and I know that Hooting Yard's values are exactly the same in every last detail as Tessa's. In fact, at an editorial conclave the other day, loveable octogenarian crone Mrs Gubbins looked up from her knitting and said “When in doubt, just ask ‘What would Tessa Jowell do?’” and we all nodded in recognition of the deep wisdom of those words. (All except the bloated janitor, of course, who still swears by Blunkett, but that's another story.)
Certain people seem to think that the logo—the brand, the brand!—is devoid of content and meaning, and make the same charge against Tessa's words. Such carping is only to be expected. For my money, anything Tessa Jowell says ought to be carved in stone and studied, much as one would study the work of a great literary giant. The rewards are immense.
To show that I know what I'm talking about, we commissioned a new Hooting Yard brand, the better to embody our values. It cost slightly more than the £400,000 price tag of the Olympic thing of beauty, but I'm sure you will agree that it was money well spent. At a meeting to identify funding, the vitamin-deficient inmates of Pang Hill Orphanage insisted that they can cope with severely reduced gruel rations for the next forty years. Indeed, they have never looked so blissful.