Britain's Channel 4 was looking for someplace striking and noteworthy to put a logo for their Big Brother series, and hit upon a great idea -- paint it on the greensward next to the 3,000-year-old Uffington White Horse, a football-field-length chalk drawing in Oxfordshire.
What's amazing is that Britain's National Trust organization, which owns the site, actually went along with it.
Okay, so the logo was supposedly in chalk-based paint that would be washed away by the rain. Right.
But, dammit, it's the principle of the thing. If CBS wanted to put an ad for "Survivor" on a huge biodegradable banner next to Mount Rushmore, would folks be rightfully upset with the National Park Service for allowing it?
How about a "American Idol" logo draped tastefully around the Washington Monument? Or flapping in the breeze at Mesa Verde? Or sprayed in water-soluble ink across the flanks of the Grand Canyon?
Having been to the Uffington White Horse, all I can say is, for shame.
(via GoaF)
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Having been to Uffington horse and Stonehenge, I coulnd't agree more. The national trust seems to be, in my opinion, an organization with goals of nothing more than making as much money as possible from tourists, not preservation of historic sites. I was especially let down when visiting Stonehenge.
Actually, Stonehenge is a British Heritage site, not a National Trust site (they're two different orgs).
I didn't have any particular objections to the treatment of Stonehenge, and I know that there are some long-term plans to reroute some roadways and the like in the area, which should even further preseve the site.
It's been 8 years since I've last visited, so things have, hopefully, gotten better. The tunnel entrance and gift shop were a disservice to the site.
Things were a bit better, I felt, this last trip than when I was there four years ago. There's still a gift shop (inevitable) and tunnel (which I think provides less intrusive access then folks tromping across the street). Still room for improvement, but a lot better than it once was.
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