Why is New York City spending millions of dollars advertising the Olympics to its own citizens? I’m sick and tired of seeing ads for the Olympics everywhere I go. Personally, I don’t even think having the olympics in New York is a good idea. Here is what Forbes magazine has to say:
The cost of hosting the Olympics will be exorbitant (between $5 billion and $6 billion) and New York is hardly guaranteed long-term economic impact even after all that cash is blown. Montreal, for example, took on an estimated $1.4 billion debt to host the 1976 games, and it is not expected to be paid off until 2006. Talk about hangovers.
The only people who seem to stand to gain are a few real estate developers, the rest of us are going to have to live under martial law while the city freaks out about the potential for a terrorist attack. They don’t show you the patrolling storm troopers in the Olympic ads…
Which brings me back to the initial question: What is the point of advertising to New Yorkers? It isn’t like we make the decision as to where to hold the Olympics. Seems like a huge waste of money to me, just to tell me that they hope to waste even more money in the near future.
