Olympic protest movement turns its sights on to sponsors
source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/23/olympicgames2008.china
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- khasson
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The linked rings on every Chinese Coke bottle and the leaping athletes on each McDonald's paper bag testify to the power the world's biggest corporations believe this summer's Olympics wields.
But having spent huge sums, the companies sponsoring the Beijing games are about to find themselves the targets of a new, more vigorous war on China's human rights record by campaigners boosted by the success of protests along the torch relay route.
Yesterday a coalition of Tibetan groups warned Coca-Cola that it would be "complicit in a humanitarian disaster" unless it used its influence to ensure Tibet was dropped from the torch route. And tomorrow, Dream for Darfur will launch a critical "report card" on sponsors of the games.
Campaigners are urging companies to press the International Olympic Committee and Beijing itself for change - or risk damaging their brands. "Companies [who do not act] will get physical protests; they will get letters; we will ask people to turn off their adverts," said Ellen Freudenheim, director of corporate outreach at Dream for Darfur, which argues that they should press China to put pressure on Sudan as its major oil buyer.
"Sponsors don't make policy and we understand that. But combined they have about the equivalent of the GDP of Canada, the world's eighth largest economy; they have government affairs offices; they have lobbying firms; they have international presences - and they all do engage in politics."
But having spent huge sums, the companies sponsoring the Beijing games are about to find themselves the targets of a new, more vigorous war on China's human rights record by campaigners boosted by the success of protests along the torch relay route.
Yesterday a coalition of Tibetan groups warned Coca-Cola that it would be "complicit in a humanitarian disaster" unless it used its influence to ensure Tibet was dropped from the torch route. And tomorrow, Dream for Darfur will launch a critical "report card" on sponsors of the games.
Campaigners are urging companies to press the International Olympic Committee and Beijing itself for change - or risk damaging their brands. "Companies [who do not act] will get physical protests; they will get letters; we will ask people to turn off their adverts," said Ellen Freudenheim, director of corporate outreach at Dream for Darfur, which argues that they should press China to put pressure on Sudan as its major oil buyer.
"Sponsors don't make policy and we understand that. But combined they have about the equivalent of the GDP of Canada, the world's eighth largest economy; they have government affairs offices; they have lobbying firms; they have international presences - and they all do engage in politics."
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khasson
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Majora Carter talks about being selected by Coca-Cola to carry the torch for the Olympic Relay in San Francisco.
This is pretty interesting when you consider that Majora Carter is an outspoken activist and that many people are starting to protest Coke's sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics.
- 4 years ago
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khasson
