Does This Look Like 'Zion' to You? Iran Thinks So.

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The Olympics are for intra-national bonding, and being kind to one another despite our various geopolitical borders, and sex among swim teams, and beating the crap out of everyone who's not the U.S.A.! Which is why Iran is very upset that the logo for the 2012 London Olympics looks like a shoddy Keith-Haring rip-off it reads "Zion." Iran is so upset about this so-called "racist logo," in fact, that they wrote a letter to the International Olympic Committee threatening to boycott the games and urging other Muslim countries to do the same.

ESPN points out that "Zion" is a biblical term widely recognized to refer to the city of Jerusalem. Pink, meanwhile, is a color generally associated with Barbie and breast cancer awareness, and, if you squint while drunk, you might be able to turn a "2" into a "Z," but even that would only get you "Zoiz" or "Zioz," which is the name of a rejected Zelda character of indeterminate religious leanings.

In conclusion, this is the trick the awkward kid used to get out of gym. We get you, Iran. (Wink.) The International Olympic Committee, in the meantime, is utterly befuddled because until now the only critique had been that the logo was ugly -- not racist.

2012 London logo draws ire of Iran [ESPN]

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3 comments
Arclightxp
Arclightxp

Well if you take photoshop, rotate this bit, move this here, and this one there, squint, hop on one leg, you may just make out the word zion. But do all that in reverse and you can read "The beatles are bigger than Jesus"

http://story.malaysiasun.com/i...

Guest
Guest

actually when I saw it I shit bricks. I have no idea whether someone did it intentionally but if you simply read it as two columns, reading down-right-down, it is hard to act like no one could interpret it this way. There's even a dot for the i.

yahoo-ZDVC6BR2KOC4VZ2SO65DL2E7T4
yahoo-ZDVC6BR2KOC4VZ2SO65DL2E7T4

It kinda does. The '2' looks more like a 'z' to me and changing the orientation turns the second 'z' to something resembling a 'N'.

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