The dispute over the emblem for the 2020 Olympic games and its alleged plagiarism continues to simmer in Japan people are still suggesting alternatives to what are currently the most beleaguered geometric shapes in the world.

And then there are those who are embracing the still official emblem for what it is. Convenience store chain 7-Eleven is one such proponent. One franchise in Musashikoganei created a homage out of the delicious Japanese stewed food known as oden for a promotional posted to be hung in their store.

However, the Tokyo Olympic Committee politely refused use of the poster saying that the placement of foodstuffs infringed on the likeness of their emblem which is currently being accused of infringing on another logo.

As we can see the poster shows many of oden’s standard foods such as a piece of yaki-chikuwa (boiled and fried fish paste), a wedge of tofu, a wedge of konjac, and a puck of daikon. However, their particular placement in the white space of the ad is clearly reminiscent of the Olympic emblem.

Knowing this, the lone 7-Eleven outlet took the time to contact the Tokyo Olympic Committee to clear its use before putting it up in their store. Here is the reply from the TOC according to a tweet from the 7-Eleven branch that has since been deleted.

“Thank you for contacting us. We have reviewed the attached photo, and think the arrangement of the ingredients easily resembles the emblem. If it was for personal use it would be okay, but since you will use the image in your store for commercial purposes, we ask that you refrain from using it. We sincerely thank you for your understanding and cooperation.”

And so the poster in question will never see the light of day when 7-Eleven’s delicious oden goes on sale for the rock-bottom price of 70 yen (US$0.57) a piece in the first week of September. In the meantime, we’ll just have to savor all the delicious irony soaked into this situation like so much soup stock in a piece of daikon oden.

Source: Twitter – @711musako2
Original article by Mr. Sato

▼ Musashikoganei 7-Eleven is currently hard at work coming up with alternative designs in time for the big sale.
[tweet https://twitter.com/711musako2/status/634966680955850753 align=center]

[ Read in Japanese ]