The Province
Thursday, May 12, 2005
The new Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics logo, named Ilanaaq. (CP PHOTO/HO)
A poll shows that just under half of British Columbians want to befriend Ilanaaq, the 2010 Olympics logo.
"It shows that a lot of the negative discussion about the logo has had an impact," said Evi Mustel, of Mustel Group Market Research.
When the logo was revealed with much fanfare on April 23, it immediately drew criticism for what many felt was a simplistic design.
A member of the Squamish First Nation labelled it an act of aggression because the stylized Inukshuk is a symbol of the Inuit, an aboriginal people foreign to B.C.
The Mustel group first polled support for the controversial logo on April 25 and found that 58 per cent of respondents supported it.
However, between May 5 and 9 Mustel again asked people what they thought of Ilanaaq -- which means friend in Inuktitut -- and found that support has dropped to 49 per cent.
The pollster also discovered that the percentage of people who flat-out dislike the logo has grown from 24 per cent to 39 per cent.
Mustel asked if the logo should have represented B.C. specifically or Canada in general and found that 51 per cent thought it should reflect B.C., and 43 per cent Canada.
Renee Smith-Valade, spokeswoman for VANOC, the Olympics organizing committee, found one upside in the poll.
"It did show that 73 per cent recognized the logo, so that's three out of four people," she said.
During the first poll, 53 per cent of the respondents had seen the logo.
"The logo is the logo. We won't be changing it," said Smith-Valade.
"We've had calls of support from across Canada and around the world. It was always meant to represent Canada, and if it didn't, we would have done a great disservice to British Columbians."
Smith-Valade said VANOC will spend the next five years explaining to people the significance of Ilanaaq.
"There are layers and layers to the story," she said.
The rock structures are used by Inuit to provide direction in the stark, white landscape.
Ilanaaq's colours are designed to reflect the Canadian landscape. B.C.'s islands, ocean, forests and mountains are represented by green and blues; red represents Canada's signature maple leaf; and gold the sunrise and sunset.
Mustel said she likes the logo and was disappointed with the result.
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© The Vancouver Province 2005
