LONDON — A controversy is swirling in parts of the U.K. over the country's 2012 Olympic logo, which some observers feel may fall under a new law that prohibits sexually explicit cartoon images featuring children.
While this observer feels that likening the logo to an image of popular American cartoon character "Lisa Simpson" performing fellatio is more than a creative stretch of the imagination, it appears that many Londoners see just that when viewing the new logo. There is even a Facebook group with more than 200,000 followers devoted to this claim.
Other critics see the logo as a broken Swastika, and lament the nearly $1 million dollars given to the "brand awareness" experts that created it.
But is the image illegal child pornography?
Under the new Coroners & Justice Act, when in a sexually explicit context, if "the impression conveyed by the image is that the person shown is a child," then possession of that image is a criminal offense, regardless of the circumstances surrounding that possession.
The law was reportedly drafted to provide the widest possible interpretation of what would be considered an illegal image, to even include stick-figure sketches made by a "doodler" for his or her own amusement — and prohibits defenses based on claims that the images did not depict human children, due to the addition of "alien" features.
Given the apparent widespread belief in what London's new Olympic logo depicts, some see it as only a matter of time before a formal complaint is made under the new law — and the elimination of any claims of ignorance over the depiction, based upon the extraordinary level of public outcry.
"Oh dear. I'm sorry. But, it does look like that," wrote the Guardian's Jonathan Glancey. "And who, even the cleanest minded among us, is going to think anything else now?"
According to a London 2012 spokesperson, however, "The London 2012 logo depicts the figure 2012 and nothing else."
While this observer feels that likening the logo to an image of popular American cartoon character "Lisa Simpson" performing fellatio is more than a creative stretch of the imagination, it appears that many Londoners see just that when viewing the new logo. There is even a Facebook group with more than 200,000 followers devoted to this claim.
Other critics see the logo as a broken Swastika, and lament the nearly $1 million dollars given to the "brand awareness" experts that created it.
But is the image illegal child pornography?
Under the new Coroners & Justice Act, when in a sexually explicit context, if "the impression conveyed by the image is that the person shown is a child," then possession of that image is a criminal offense, regardless of the circumstances surrounding that possession.
The law was reportedly drafted to provide the widest possible interpretation of what would be considered an illegal image, to even include stick-figure sketches made by a "doodler" for his or her own amusement — and prohibits defenses based on claims that the images did not depict human children, due to the addition of "alien" features.
Given the apparent widespread belief in what London's new Olympic logo depicts, some see it as only a matter of time before a formal complaint is made under the new law — and the elimination of any claims of ignorance over the depiction, based upon the extraordinary level of public outcry.
"Oh dear. I'm sorry. But, it does look like that," wrote the Guardian's Jonathan Glancey. "And who, even the cleanest minded among us, is going to think anything else now?"
According to a London 2012 spokesperson, however, "The London 2012 logo depicts the figure 2012 and nothing else."
