If you’re already sick of reading about the Rio Olympics, too bad. Today is the first post-opening ceremony day of competition, and we’ve got got a solid two weeks till the closing ceremony so suck it up and enjoy the ride.
In case you missed it, last night’s opening ceremony was spectacular and ended with one of the most mesmerizing Olympic cauldron’s ever (see above). It’s also on a short list of GIFs that you’ll see for this summer’s Olympic Games.
Why? Well, it’s all thanks to the misguided new rules imposed by the International Olympic Committee. The ban prohibits the creation of any GIFs or other Vine-like short videos.
Why the ban? Well, the long answer is it’s to protect official sponsors like NBC. The IOC thinks GIFs might keep people from tuning in to the actual games. This same mindset is behind the ban keeping individual brands who aren’t official sponsors, but are sponsoring individual athletes, from using the Olympic hashtags or mentioning the games in any way on social media.
The short answer, the ban exists because the IOC doesn’t understand social media.
While it’s a total bummer for my planned re-enactment in GIF format, it has led to some clever–and in no way connected to the Olympics—responses from brands who aren’t official sponsors.
I'm Potato Sam, the official mascot for the 2016 #Ughlympics. Confused? Me too! Hopefully this explains things. https://t.co/S9t0FsbMBi
— Potato Sam (@Eat24) August 5, 2016
Race right to Krispy Kreme to #GoForTheGlazed! A Dulce de Leche tastes yummy w/ $4.99 dozens https://t.co/Y6nFJmtaAB pic.twitter.com/4RFbfHquDB
— krispykreme (@krispykreme) August 5, 2016
More on the Story: Quartz
…just for fun: