As anyone with even a vague understanding of the media could have guessed, you can’t move for Winter Olympics related reports in the press at the moment. The medals are now being handed out thick and fast, giving sports commentators plenty to discuss, meanwhile some rather catastrophic public relations failures have meant there are plenty more stories to be relayed than simply who won what.
Whether it’s unfinished hotels, or the cameras in rooms therein Vladimir Putin claims can prove negative reports from journalists have been falsified, it’s safe to say that Socchi 2014 makes London 2012 look universally adored. And that’s before we come to what would be the elephant in the corner, if it weren’t for the fact everyone is talking about it- namely gay rights, with Russia’s notoriously hard-lined stance on homosexuality causing furore across the logically-minded world.
This all arguably places these Games amongst the most controversial of all time. There has always been a heavy political influence on any Olympic event, but few editions have seen such rhetoric threaten to completely outshine the actual competition itself. The result has been something of an online backlash, with organisations and individuals from across the world taking to the web and social media in order to voice objection to one aspect of Socchi or another. Plenty of fodder to peruse then, given our staff keep stumbling upon these videos, tweets and articles we thought it would be at least slightly amusing to put together a list of great anti-Socchi content currently doing the rounds online, so take a look below and let us know anything we should have included.
 
Luge – Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion
Short, simple and guaranteed to raise a smile, this CIDI viral has currently wracked up more than 5million views, and it’s not hard to see why.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=effb2JYiKXM
 
 
#gayforsocchi – GAYLETTER and House of Turing
One of a number of visual protest campaigns, GAYLETTER and House of Turing are asking Internet users to upload (ideally topless) pictures of themselves, which will then have pink Olympic rings super-emposed over the chest area, in a bid to show solidarity with the Russian LGBT community.

 
 
Socchi Sucks – Jesús Sandoval Jr (via The Washington Post)
Parodies can either be terrible or incredible, and this effort by Chicago-based music producer and rapper Jesús Sandoval Jr, picked up by The Washington Post’s blog this week, falls into the latter category, especially when you listen to the song, which reworks Phil Collins’ 1985 hit, Sussudio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0VQTJFdyRQ
 
 
Socchi Doodle – Google
No doubt everyone saw this when it adorned Google’s web search page last week, making for what could well be the most visible piece of content on our list. Google declined to comment when the doodle went live, but realistically the web giant said it all in the design.

 
Gay Mountain – Channel 4
Given this has been broadcast to the nation during peak time TV hours it’s safe to say plenty more than the 1million or so YouTube viewers who have hit play online. An obvious choice, but a worthy inclusion nonetheless.