McDonalds Lose Monopoly On Selling Chips At The Olympics

[Zaune]

The Guardian

The great London 2012 Olympic chip embargo has cracked. No longer will hungry workers at the games be denied pie and chips, chicken and chips or even just chips because of a monopoly enforced by McDonald's, a major sponsor.

On Wednesday, the London Organising Committee responded to plaintive cries of caterers who had grown tired of receiving "grief" from chip-hungry staff working on the opening and closing ceremonies and allowed chips to be served outside branches of the fast food chain McDonald's.

It all results from one of the stranger twists of Olympic planning. McDonald's sponsorship deal included the exclusive right to sell chips in and around Olympic venues. Other caterers had negotiated special rights to serve chips with fish – but not chips on their own, or with anything else.

Cue frustrated scenes at the lunch counter in the ceremonies catering area where staff were toiling over the staging for Danny Boyle's 27 July opening extravaganza. "Please understand this is not the decision of the staff who are serving up your meals who, given the choice, would gladly give it to you, however they are not allowed to," read a notice pinned up by staff. "Please do not give the staff grief, this will only lead to us removing fish and chips completely."

"It's sorted," said a spokesman for Locog. "We have spoken to McDonald's about it."

But the embargo will hold in other areas. That means no chips with anything other than fish anywhere else in the park unless spectators dine at McDonald's.

On Wednesday catering staff in the media centre were taking no risks. There were hash browns and dauphinoise, but no chips. A server explained why: "Because McDonald's own the rights, so we're not allowed to".

Know what? I got nuthin'. I mean, what the fuck are you even supposed to say to this?

[streetad]

It's not even as if McDonalds actually serves proper chips...

[PREDATOR490]

I dont really get it...
If people want something and McDonalds is not able to provide it... people SHOULD be able to get the product they want from someone that can.
If McDonalds dosent like it... provide what they want, deal with the competition or fuck off.

Isnt that how the Free Market is supposed to work ANYWAY ?
The idea of companies owning the rights to an entire food no matter how its prepared is just hilarious.

[Spectre_nz]

I mean, what the fuck are you even supposed to say to this?

I suspect what you're supposed to say is "I'll have two fillets of cod, a slice of lemon and $4 of chips Thanks. Oh, and a slice of deep-fried pineapple" at the McD's counter and then look annoyed and walk the fuck out when they are unable to provide such a thing nicely bundled in newsprint.

Or walk in with your else-were obtained battered fish, request chips, and then send them back because "These aren't proper chips" over and over.

But I don't think enough people have the patients for such corporate trolling to make any headway.

These restaurants are all franchises; owned by Brits in this instance, rather than having a sudden influx of EvilTM restaurant managers being shipped in especially for the olympics. I'm amazed how quickly people will turn into shills for their body corporate and fleece their countrymen. Oh,wait , no, I'm not that amazed.

[Darth Wong]

I dont really get it...
If people want something and McDonalds is not able to provide it... people SHOULD be able to get the product they want from someone that can.
If McDonalds dosent like it... provide what they want, deal with the competition or fuck off.

Isnt that how the Free Market is supposed to work ANYWAY ?
The idea of companies owning the rights to an entire food no matter how its prepared is just hilarious.

It's not a free market; it's a closed market. It's sort of like the concession stand at a movie theatre.

[Haruko]

Too bad for McDonald's it can't just close down on this Olympics and open up on the Olympics across the street.

[Grumman]

Know what? I got nuthin'. I mean, what the fuck are you even supposed to say to this?

"The politicians that sold their souls to the IOC can go to hell"?

[Pendleton]

I do find this brand stuff baffling. Advertising you're supporting the games, okay. But making it so your brand in that particular field is the only one available at the venue? Seems a bit off. We had similar issues with the IOC trying to block unauthorised broadcasts of events to YouTube, and look how that ended.

[AMT]

I dont really get it...
If people want something and McDonalds is not able to provide it... people SHOULD be able to get the product they want from someone that can.
If McDonalds dosent like it... provide what they want, deal with the competition or fuck off.

But they can provide it... they just only provide it at their venues. Meh, just looks like a bunch of people whining.

[Simon_Jester]

No, the problem is that McDonalds is trying to use their monopoly on sales at the games to sell an inferior version of the product, by British standards. So they're providing a product, but not the one people want and could easily get from a lot of other vendors, if those vendors were allowed to say it.

And it ties into a lot of other stuff about the 2012 Olympics and its sponsors- there's a general complaint that Britain is basically writing a pile of exceptions into its laws and bending over backwards to accommodate these corporations.

[Surlethe]

By the way, when the Brits say "chips", you mean thick french fries, right? Not like US chips. Because I totally sympathize with this: McDonalds' french fries are shit compared to good thick potato slices.

[Zaune]

It's a bit more complicated than that, actually; the traditional fish and chip shop chip calls for a particular potato variety called Maris Pipers, which are apparently almost impossible to acquire outside Europe. The texture is drastically different.

[2000AD]

Reminds me of the '06 World Cup in Germany where there was a mass revolt from Germans over Budweiser being the only beer being sold in/around stadiums.

[tim31]

Good heavens, who thought that was a good idea? Catering to the people who call it the Soccer World Cup??

On topic, the frontline staff of these onsite McD establishments just breathed a sigh of relief. This'll knock between 5-10% of the queues.

[Alkaloid]

No, the problem is that McDonalds is trying to use their monopoly on sales at the games to sell an inferior version of the product, by British standards.

It's not really an inferior version of the same product though, its really a different product. Most people in Aus, and I'm assuming in Britain as well, draw a distinction between chips and french fries. This is more like McDonalds trying to stop people selling porterhouse steaks around the Olympics because they sell a plate of minced porterhouse. The ingredients are broadly similar, sure, but the product itself is different.

[Julhelm]

If it's McDonalds, it's inferior by definition.