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Olympic sponsors get cold feet
 Source: PANDORA.TV
The Olympic torch arrived in Japan Friday as protests loom and corporate sponsors and a Buddhist temple back away. Chaotic demonstrations have marred some legs of the global relay, and this weekend in Nagano organizers expect some 2,000 Chinese, human rights activists and 4,000 police on site. Despite paying millions to be part of the Olympic moment, sponsors Coca-Cola, Samsung and Lenovo have decided to keep company vehicles garaged, with two citing security concerns. Professor Noriko Hama says brand risk from Games association has become greater than brand enhancement. SOUNDBITE: NORIKO HAMA, VICE DEAN, DOSHISHA GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, SAYING (ENGLISH): "Companies are starting to be enormously worried about brand damage. Clearly a lot of companies are trying to disassociate themselves from the whole event. I mean the Olympics games are becoming almost a dirty word amongst the business community." Zenkoji temple, a key site when Nagano hosted the Olympics, pulled out as a relay starting point, citing followers anger over Chinas crackdown in Tibet. The relay now will start in a parking lot while runners for the most part will be out of spectator sight. Doshisha Universitys Hama says rather than the Games punctuating Chinas global arrival, events so far have been a PR nightmare. SOUNDBITE: NORIKO HAMA, VICE DEAN, DOSHISHA GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, SAYING (ENGLISH): "We were thinking China is going to have its own way, its perfectly attuned to the global market, and this is going to be even more a boost for them, But actually as its shown up China in a different light. Behind the facade of this glamorous, wondrous, bursting growth, there are actually a lot of skeletons in the Chinese cupboard." Some Games sponsors like Coke have voiced Tibet concerns, while others such as Matsushita only say they wont comment on politics. Kodak, a sponsor since the first modern Olympics in 1896, plans to end its long-running association with the flame after Beijing, looking to redirect its marketing strategy. Dan Sloan reporting.
Rating: (0 ratings) Views: 7 Added: Apr 25, 2008
Category: News Author: reuters
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