The Olympic flame will be coming around my way next week but i have seen it regularly on the BBC over the last few weeks. A stirring sight as 8000 of the most deserving residents of the country are honoured with running 100m with the flame held aloft in a golden torch that they are then asked to shell out £200 for it they want to keep it.
Along with a group of body guards to make sure nobody dashes out from the crowd with a bucket of water, are the unmissable posse of vehicles plastered with the names of sponsors Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung.
Fair enough, they have paid a lot of money to sponsor the Olympics and if someone from Coca-Cola tries to hand me a free drink while i'm stood in the rain on the pavement cheering on the local runners, i can always glare at them and keep my hands in my pockets.
What i don't understand is why the International Olympic Committee have associated themselves with the likes of McDonald's and Coca-Cola, hardly the things that Olympic Champions are made of.
"The IOC only enters into partnerships with organisations that it believes work in accordance with the values of the Olympic Movement," a spokesman said which makes me wonder if i missed the bit in their manual where the values were described as being about obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.
Health issues have also been raised by the London Royal Free Hospital who called it 'obscene that the Olympics has chosen to associate itself with fast food, sugary drinks, chocolate and alcohol when there is an obesity epidemic in this country.'
Even our Olympic boxing silver medallist Amir Khan has also criticised London 2012 organisers for allowing McDonald's to open its largest restaurant in the Olympic Park and if a man who has spent the last 8 years being hit in the head can see it why can't they?
The moment when it turned into farce for me was when it was discovered that toilet-roll holders, urinals, benches and even light bulbs in the Olympic arenas were having their manufacturers name taped over.
I'm just hoping that somehow, somewhere, there is a fiendishly clever ambush marketing plan being hatched by one of the sponsors rivals.
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