Advertisers not wary of 'Genocide Olympics'

Source: CNN, June 13, 2007.

Despite a possible backlash against China for its investments in Sudan, some media buyers say marketers will still embrace next year's Olympics.

By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney.com editor at large.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Summer Olympic Games in Beijing are more than a year away. But a growing backlash against China's ties to the government of Sudan could have some major consequences for GE (Charts, Fortune 500) and its NBC Universal entertainment division, which will broadcast the Olympics in the U.S., as well as several high profile corporate sponsors.

Actress and human rights activist Mia Farrow, who also acts as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador, has been referring to next year's games as the "Genocide Olympics," due to the conflict in Dafrur that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

China has invested heavily in Sudan's oil industry and some have argued that the country has not exerted as much influence as it could to stop the violence in Darfur.

Farrow has urged people to contact sponsors of the Olympics to ask them to withhold their corporate support of the games until there is a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Darfur.

China's new cultural revolution

Members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate sent separate strongly worded letters to Chinese president Hu Jintao last month saying that unless the Chinese government steps up pressure on Sudan to curb the violence in Darfur, China risks tarnishing its image before the Olympics.

The letter from the House warned that the Olympics could be a "disaster" marred by protests.

And Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico and Democratic presidential candidate, suggested in a debate with other candidates earlier this month that the U.S. might want to consider boycotting the Olympics if China doesn't do more to stop the bloodshed in Darfur.

A representative for NBC was not immediately available for comment about how a possible boycott or protests could affect the company. GE (Charts, Fortune 500) is also a sponsor of next summer's Olympics.

Coca-Cola (Charts, Fortune 500), one of the top sponsors of the games, said in a statement e-mailed to CNNMoney.com that the company "has been sponsoring the Olympic Games since 1928 and believes that the ideals of the Olympic Movement of building a better world through sport, friendship and fair play are more relevant than ever. Our sponsorship allows these positive messages to reach a broader audience and inspire both athletes and spectators. The Coca-Cola Company does not have a role in the internal policy decisions of sovereign nations such as China and the Sudan."

Coca-Cola added that it recently gave $750,000 to the Red Cross and Red Crescent for humanitarian relief in Darfur and that the company has no direct foreign investment in Sudan and does not conduct business with the country's government.

Representatives for other big sponsors, including Lenovo and Visa and Eastman Kodak (Charts, Fortune 500), were not available for comment.

But a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Manulife (Charts), the insurance company that owns John Hancock and is also a Olympic sponsor, said in an e-mail with CNNMoney.com that the company has so far not received any calls or complaints about the company's involvement with the Olympics.

A spokesman for the U.S. subsidiary of Panasonic, another Olympics sponsor, said Panasonic, which is owned by Japanese consumer electronics giant Matsushita (Charts), had no comment about the controversy and referred CNNMoney.com to Ben Seeley, a spokesman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Switzerland. Seeley was also not immediately available for comment.

The Olympics are a multi-million dollar marketing opportunity for sponsors, as the games tend to attract large worldwide audiences. And the stakes are particularly high for NBC, which just finished in fourth place in the ratings race for the third consecutive season, and is clearly in sore need of improved ratings.

Warren Buffett and Darfur

At last month's upfront presentation to media buyers and advertisers in New York, NBC spent a sizable chunk of time at the end of the event touting the Summer Games.

Yet, several media buyers said, that so far, the Sudan issue does not appear to be playing a major role in determining whether or not marketers want to buy commercial time during the Olympics.

"It's still a little early but I have not heard any concerns or backlash yet," said Andy Donchin, director of national broadcast with Carat USA, a media buying firm based in New York.

However, the possibility of more protests are something to keep an eye on.

"Politics and controversy are always a concern with the Olympics but at this point, it's sort of below the surface. I haven't heard of any specific advertisers that are worried about it because it's not top of mind yet," said Bill Carroll, a vice president and director of programming with Katz Television Group, a consulting and media buying firm based in New York.

That may change though.

"This is an issue that bears watching. Any time there is a negative dynamic associated with something as positive as the Olympics, it's one of many concerns that a network and advertisers could have," said John Rash, senior vice president and director of broadcast negotiations with Campbell Mithun, a media buying firm based in Minneapolis.

Carroll agreed, adding that if stories about China's association with Sudan becomes even more prevalent in the coming months, some advertisers might not be eager to have ties to an event referred to as the "Genocide Olympics."

NBC: No big comeback

"If China and Darfur becomes a more contentious situation then advertisers may want to avoid getting in the middle of it. Obviously, advertisers respond to their consumers. If there is a negative reaction to being an Olympics sponsor, advertisers will have to consider that," Carroll said.

But one sports marketing expert said some advertisers are still a little wary of becoming involved in the Olympics but not for political reasons.

John Rowady, president of rEvolution, a sports marketing and media company based in Chicago, said some of his firm's clients have expressed reluctance about the Olympics merely because China is a relatively new and untapped market for marketers.

So while some companies may not want to aggressively market in China itself, Rowady doesn't think fears of a backlash will effect domestic spending on advertising associated with the games.

"A lot of people are sitting on the fence to determine what their plans should be for the Olympics. Many companies may skip the Olympics just because they won't feel comfortable marketing in China just yet and not due to politics," he said. *.

Read FORTUNE's Chasing the Dragon blog about China.
Bush announces sanctions against Sudan.

Chinese Officials Questioned Protesters Repeatedly

Source: Radio Free Asia.

HONG KONG—Chinese authorities repeatedly and separately questioned five Americans detained for two days after they staged an Olympic-related protest on Mount Everest before expelling them on Friday, one of the protesters has told Radio Free Asia.

“There were about five questions,” Tibetan-American Tenzin Dorje told RFA’s Tibetan service. “Their main question was whether anyone helped from inside Tibet—who helped us to write in Tibetan and Chinese, and so on. Where did we eat? Where did we go by vehicle?”

On arriving at the base camp, the five—all activists from the U.S.-based Students for a Free Tibet group—unfurled a banner saying, “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008.” They were identified as Tenzin Dorje, the first known exiled Tibetan to return to the region to protest, Kirsten Westby, Mac Sutherlin, Jeff Friesen, and videographer Shannon Service.

Their protest came on the eve of an announcement of the route to be taken by the Olympic torch to Beijing, which will host the 2008 Games. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the five were detained for “carrying out illegal activities aimed at splitting China” for which they must be expelled from China.

“Finally we were released this morning and transported to the [Nepal] border post at Drum,” Tenzin Dorje said. “When we were first detained, we were taken to an office right at the base camp of Mount Everest…They started interrogating us there. They didn’t ask us questions in a group but took each individual to a separate room and conducted their interrogation there. One police officer asks questions, another takes notes, and two or three stand by with guns ready. We were detained in the same office from 9.30 a.m. to about 10 p.m.”

“Then a group of Public Security officials arrived from Shigatse [in Chinese, Xigaze] and they searched all our belongings—and started another session of interrogation. Later in the night, we were taken to the Shekar [in Chinese, Xiegar] police station. There again they started another session of interrogation. At that time one of our Western friends was threatened with a dark cold cell if he did not give the correct answers. He was threatened with assault if he did not cooperate. But he refused and demanded to talk to U.S. Embassy officials.”

“For the whole night, we were taken from one police station to another, and then the next morning we were at a police station in Shigatse. So yesterday, the whole day, we were detained in Shigatse and again they carried out interrogations. Then later we were placed in a guest house in Shigatse. When we were about to sleep, again we were woken up in the middle of night and interrogated again.”

“I don't know the real reasons for our release. We were just released,” Tenzin Dorje said. “Later we learned that there was pressure from several countries, and there were many contacts with the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.”

“We couldn’t be held for more than 48 hours and had to be either released or charged with some crime to start the legal process,” he said. “We were detained on April 25 a little after 9 a.m. and then [released] today, April 27, at 9 a.m. …We were put in a vehicle around 8 a.m. and rushed—there were about eight or nine vehicles with about 40 police who escorted us to the Drum border post.”

“Starting from our initial detention, they told us the same thing. They said we violated Chinese laws and would be punished for this violation. The main violation, according to them, was writing about independence for Tibet on our banner. They said this had grossly damaged the security of China.”

Chinese troops annexed Tibet in 1948; the region's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled the country in 1959. He has accused China of carrying out "cultural genocide" in Tibet. Beijing has said he will play no part in Tibet's future.

China's Sudan Foray Falls Far Short: Mia Farrow

Source: Radio Free Asia.

WASHINGTON—China’s bid to answer critics by using its clout to stop violence in troubled Sudan falls far short of what’s needed to make a difference, actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow has said.

Farrow’s March 28 comment in The Wall Street Journal used the term “Genocide Olympics” to call for a boycott of the 2008 Games in Beijing. While Sudan had agreed to allow a small UN peacekeeping force to Darfur, she said, no timeframe had been set, and the proposed 3,000 troops had yet to materialize under an unclear mandate.

“I feel that what Khartoum has agreed to is so minimal as to be nothing,” Farrow told RFA’s Mandarin service.

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Calls to use Beijing Games to pressure China on Sudan

Source: CNN.

BEIJING, China (AP) -- China on Thursday blasted separate calls by a French politician and a Hollywood actress to use the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.

In an article published in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow accused Beijing of "bankrolling Darfur's genocide" and called on director Steven Spielberg and four corporate sponsors to "add their ... voices to the growing calls for Chinese action to end the slaughter..."

"We don't think it is appropriate to link the Olympic Games in Beijing with the Darfur issue and we don't think it will be popularly accepted or echoed by people around the world," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

"It is a totally misguided approach for people to link the Darfur issue with the Games and try to tip the balance in their favor in order to enhance their own reputation," he said at a regular press briefing.

China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil and sells it weapons and military aircraft, has opposed sanctions against Sudan.

Beijing, however, urged Sudan earlier this month to follow through on a plan to deploy U.N. peacekeepers to beef up 7,000 African Union troops who have been battling for nearly four years to quell the violence in Darfur.

Farrow wrote:"There is now one thing that China may hold more dear than their unfettered access to Sudanese oil: their successful staging of the 2008 Summer Olympics."

"That desire may provide a lone point of leverage with a country that has otherwise been impervious to all criticism." The editorial was co-authored by Farrow's son, Ronan.

Qin said he did not know who Farrow was and had not read the editorial.

French presidential candidate wants France to boycott Games

Last week, Francois Bayrou, a center-right candidate for France's presidency, proposed that his country's athletes boycott the Beijing Games in an effort to make China lean on Sudan's government.

Qin said he believed people who tried to link the Games with Darfur were unclear about China's policy on Sudan. He said China hopes "efforts by the international community could improve the humanitarian situation in Darfur and that the region could realize a lasting peace and stability."

A permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China has come under increasing international pressure to use its influence with Khartoum to resolve the conflict, which erupted in 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of neglect.

The Sudanese government is accused of unleashing militias known as the janjaweed, which are blamed for the bulk of the conflict's atrocities. More than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have fled their homes in the past four years.

"We are confident that we will hold a successful and high quality Olympic Games in Beijing," Qin said.