Winter Olympics sponsors with investments at risk – O Journal Económico

For the world’s consumer giants sponsoring the Beijing-based 2022 Winter Olympics, this will be a high-risk marketing business. The events are a showcase in one of the most important markets for the Olympics’ biggest sponsors, which include Intel, Coca-Cola or Toyota. Bloomberg revealed that ten of the top twelve sponsors are considering investing a total amount of $110 billion (€97.5 billion).

But outside of China, politicians and human rights groups are pushing these same companies, as well as their competitors, to use the event to condemn Beijing’s treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, which the United States and some European lawmakers say is genocide. Some have called for at least a diplomatic boycott of the Games.

Of the twelve largest foreign sponsors, the Swatch Group’s Omega brand and Airbnb have commented only on the dilemmas they face. “As a global brand, we are certainly cognizant of international tensions,” Omega said in a statement.

The Swatch Group brand, which has been a major sponsor of these games since 2004, says it “honestly believes that the Olympics are the perfect opportunity to find common ground and a spirit of unity”.

Airbnb says its business in China is small, only about 1% of its annual revenue, but it’s relevant. “We believe China is an important part of our mission to connect people from all over the world and from different backgrounds, now more than ever,” a spokesperson for Harry Han wrote in an email sent to Bloomberg.

At a US Congressional hearing in July on corporate sponsorship of the Beijing Winter Games, representatives from Coca-Cola, Airbnb, Procter & Gamble, Intel and Visa sent similar messages: They support human rights and the Olympics. Intel was the only company specifically addressing Xinjiang in its statement, saying it does not conduct business in the region.

Stephen Rodgers, Intel’s General Counsel, said sponsoring the 2022 Olympics “does not nullify or undermine our commitment to respect human rights or our activities to prevent risks of human rights abuses.”

China denies any forced labor in the western province, calling the accusations “the biggest lie of the century”. The state says its policies are lifting the region out of poverty, boosting the economy and fighting extremism.