CORPORATE SPONSORS OF OLYMPICS
“As an event that commands the focus of the media and the attention of the entire world for 2 weeks every other year, the Olympic Games are one of the most effective international marketing platforms in the world, reaching billions of people in over 200 countries.”
(www.olympic.org, official website)
“This isn’t charity. We’ve entered into a business transaction. We will make money. That’s what it’s all about.”
(Hugh McColl, chairman NationsBank, prime sponsor of ’96 Atlanta Games, quoted in The New Lords of the Rings, p. 289)
Corporate sponsorship has long been a part of the modern Olympics. The oldest continuous sponsor is Coca-Cola, beginning in 1928. The Olympics of 1900 & 1904 were attached to World Trade Fairs. It was not until the development of mass media & consumerism after WW2, however, and in particular, television, that corporate sponsorship really became an integral part of the Olympic industry as we now know it.
“The rise of the mass media… contributed more to the global popularity of the [Olympics] than any other single factor. Captive audiences proved enticing to commercial interests seeking to promote products to consumers.”
(Selling the 5 Rings, p. 51)
“During the 1980s and 1990s IOC members witnessed a meteoric rise in the power of the [Olympics] to raise vast amounts of revenue for the sale of TV rights worldwide and the marriage of the five-ring symbol to the products and marketing activities of various multinational corporate giants. For example, [between 1997-2000] the IOC… reported an estimated gross income of close to 4 billion US dollars.”
(Selling the 5 Rings, p. x)
Beginning in 1985, the IOC designated top-level corporate sponsors as The Olympic Partners (TOP), corporations who pay tens of millions of dollars to have their products and/or services associated with the Games. These corporations gain exclusive world-wide marketing rights to both the Summer & Winter Olympics for a specified term. Along with paying sponsorship fees, these corporations also supply products & services to Games as part of their contracts with the IOC.
As of 2008, these TOP corporate sponsors were:
1. Coca-Cola
World’s largest beverage & soft-drink company. Bottled drinks, inc. Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Minute Maid, 5-Alive, Dasani water, etc. Coca-Cola factories in Central & South America, & India, have been involved in hiring paramilitary groups to violently repress union organizers, using kidnapping, torture and assassinations. Coke factories also deplete ground water and cause environmental destruction.
2. General Electric
One of the world’s largest manufacturers of electrical goods & appliances, security system technologies, police/prison/military contracts, weapons systems (inc. nuclear weapons). Involved in secret nuclear tests exposing thousands to radiation, experiments on prisoners, dumping of toxic waste, supplying military equipment to Israel.
3. Atos Origin
European based information technology/communications corporation, provides video, computer IT systems for Olympic Games.
4. Johnson & Johnson
One of the world’s largest pharmaceutical corporations, also supplier of medical devices, healthcare products and biotechnology services. Note: in 2008 J & J announced their withdrawal from Olympic sponsorship.
5. Kodak
One of the world’s oldest, and largest, manufacturers & suppliers of cameras, printers, graphic communications systems, etc. Longtime supplier to Olympic Games. Note: 2008 Beijing Games the last for Kodak to sponsor.
6. Lenovo
The largest manufacturer of Personal Computers (PCs) in China. Note: Lenovo withdrew from Olympic sponsorship after 2008 Beijing games.
7. McDonalds
One of the largest fast food restaurants in world, target of protests & attacks the world over for its exploitation of workers, its contribution to poor health, destruction of tropical forests for cattle industry, human rights violations, and because it is a renowned symbol of capitalist greed & consumerism.
8. Manulife
The world’s fifth largest insurance corporation. Note: Manulife withdrew from Olympic sponsrship in 2008.
9. Omega
A division of Swatch, maker of watches, official timekeepers for Olympics for several decades.
10. Panasonic
One of the world’s largest makers of electrical goods, TVs, video cameras, DVD players, etc.
11. Samsung
Third largest manufacturer of mobile phones, also DVD players, video recorders, computers, washer & dryers, fridges, etc. Supplier of wireless telecommunications equipment to Olympics.
12. Visa
World’s largest credit card company.
In addition, there are national corporate sponsors, official supporters, and official suppliers, comprised of corporations that pay millions of dollars and/or provide products and services to the IOC, NOC, and local organizing committees.
NATIONAL CORPORATE SPONSORS:
1. Bell Canada (telecommunications, $200 million)
2. Hudsons Bay Company (old fur trade company, also early colonial government, owner of The Bay, Zellers, & Fields department stores, supplier of uniforms and clothing to 2010 & Canadian Olympic team, a $100 million sponsor)
3. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC Financial Group, $110 million)
4. General Motors of Canada (car/truck manufacturer, largest military contractor in Canada, inc. Light Armoured Vehicles; $53 million)
5. Petro-Canada (one of largest Canadian oil & gas corporations, exploiting and destroying Indigenous lands, including Tar Sands in Alberta, $62.5 million)
6. Rona (hardware store/corporation, official building supplier, $68 million)
Official Supporters:
1. Air Canada (official airline of 2010)
2. BC Lottery Corporation (lottery games, government-owned corporation)
3. BC Hydro (electrical power producer)
4. Canadian Pacific Railway (cargo rail, resources taken from Indigenous lands, factor in colonization)
5. Insurance Corporation of BC (government-owned corporation, official auto insurance)
6. Jet Set Sports (corporate hospitality)
7. Ricoh (print communications & services)
8. Royal Canadian Mint (makes souvenir coins, medals, etc.)
9. Teck Cominco (mining corporation, exploiting & destroying Indigenous lands, environmental destruction)
10. Bombardier (2nd largest military contractor in Canada, makes trains and planes, provides support & training for military forces around the world, as well as transit security systems. Based in Montreal & Berlin).
Official suppliers:
1. 3M
2. Birks (diamonds, including ‘blood-diamonds’ mined in war-torn African countries)
3. Dow (one of the largest chemical corporations in world, responsible for widespread ecological destruction. Maker of Agent Orange for US chemical warfare in Vietnam. As current owner of Union Carbide, refuses to compensate victims of 1984 Bhopal disaster)
4. Epcor (oil & gas corporation exploiting and destroying Indigenous lands, including tar sands in northern Alberta)
5. Haworth (modular furniture & interior design)
6. Nortel (telecommunications)
7. Transcanada (large oil, gas & energy corporation w/more than 59,000 km of pipelines in Canada & into US)
8. Vincor Canada (wine supplier)
9. Weston (bread & baked goods)
10. Workopolis (employment center, 2010 recruiting)
11. Moving Products, Inc., provides custom apparel, uniforms, gifts etc. for Olympics. Has been contracted for 10 consecutive Olympic Games (including Atlanta ’96, Sydney 2000, Salt Lake City 2002, etc. Has outfitted over 250,000 individuals with over 2,500,000 pieces of custom apparel.
Showroom located at 495 Railway St., Vancouver, BC, Tel: 778-785-2010
12. Acklands Grainger (distributor of industrial parts)
13. Aggreko (air conditioners & compressors, generators)
14. Aquilini Investment Group
15. Britco (modular buildings)
16. Canada Post
17. Deloitte (management of personnel)
18. Garrett (metal detectors & security)
19. General Mills (food)
20. Purolator (courier)
21. Sleep Country (mattresses)
22. Saputo (dairy products)
23. Sun Microsystems (computers)
24. Tickets.com (ticket supplier)
25. Wrigley Canada (chewing gum, etc.)
Confronting RBC
March 6, 2010 - 14:09 — no2010
Confronting RBC
Toronto's biggest protest against the Tar Sands
posted by Tim Groves, March 3, 2010
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/2942
Council of Canadians Criticizes Olympic Industry
October 12, 2009 - 05:10 — no2010
Garry John and Maude Barlow: 2010 Olympics will leave legacy of social, environmental destruction
Publish Date: October 9, 2009
By Garry John and Maude Barlow
Cash Crunch Causes Tension for Games Organizers
August 26, 2009 - 01:22 — no2010
Cash crunch causes tension for Games organizers
VANOC says international committee still must provide millions from
sponsors. The IOC says it has already given more than enough
STEPHANIE LEVITZ, Canadian Press, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009
Not long ago, it seemed like organizers of the 2010 Winter Games had constructed a gold-medal model on how to put on an Olympics.
Olympic Finances Melt Down as Budget Falls Short
July 21, 2009 - 09:20 — no2010
Vancouver's Olympic finances melt down
Games budget falls apart
Brian Hutchinson, National Post Published: Friday, July 17, 2009
US Olympic Committee Loses Another Corporate Sponsor
June 6, 2009 - 07:14 — no2010
US Olympic Committee loses another major sponsor
Fri, Jun 05, 2009, AFP
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - Bank of America has become the third major sponsor not to renew a sponsorship contract with the US Olympic Committee, a key loss coming just eight months before the 2010 Winter Olympics.
General Motors Bankruptcy Could Leave Olympics Stranded
May 30, 2009 - 07:08 — no2010
Vanoc assured that GM will fulfill sponsorship commitment
By JEFF LEE, Vancouver Sun, May 28, 2009
If General Motors files for bankruptcy protection on Monday, as is widely expected, it will have yet to deliver more than 4,300 vehicles for the 2010 Winter Games.
2010 System Failure
May 13, 2009 - 23:55 — no2010
Technicians will keep computers running
Thousands of hours spent preparing for worst-case scenarios
By Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun, May 12, 2009
For nearly seven years, Magnus Alvarsson has been working out every worst-case information disaster he can imagine for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Campaign to Stop Killer Coke at Shareholders Meeting
April 21, 2009 - 11:39 — no2010
Campaign to Stop Killer Coke to Protest at Coke Annual Meeting:
Mobile Billboards in Atlanta Area Will Highlight Coke’s Abuses
[No2010 Note: Coke is one of the top Olympic sponsors and a sponsor for the torch relay]
Monday, April 20, 2009, For immediate release
Corporate Sponsors Remain a Concern for 2010
March 27, 2009 - 04:26 — no2010
Sponsors on track, but concerns remain
Relying on Nortel, GM, Petrocan and the IOC, VANOC says budget is on schedule - but gaps could emerge
DAVID EBNER, March 26, 2009, Globe and Mail
3M Executive Held Hostage: France
March 26, 2009 - 08:46 — no2010
(3M in Canada is a 2010 Olympic sponsor)
French strikers hold 3M exec hostage amid talks
Mar. 25 2009, The Associated Press
PITHIVIERS, France -- Striking French workers for U.S. manufacturer 3M held their boss hostage amid labour talks Wednesday at a plant south of Paris, as anger over layoffs and cutbacks mounted around the country.
