Is it the thrill of victory to hear the sound of one hand clapping?
Advertisers who paid big bucks for Olympics sponsorships are wondering the same thing. According to the Wall Street Journal, companies are angry that access to the Olympic Green, which is the main focal point of most games, has been "strictly limited" to people with hard-to-get tickets to the venues.
"A small line of people stood outside the The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) exhibit, where dry ice and the sound of gurgling soda pop drifted out," the paper said. "Meanwhile, a giant restaurant erected by McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) at the end of the Green has been far from packed."
This, of course, could be a huge disaster for the International Olympic Committee, which counts on corporate funding to fund the games. This could also hurt television advertising by General Electric Company (NYSE: GE)'s NBC Universal division, because televised shots of half-empty stadiums may make whatever sporting event they are showing seem lame.
Overall, though, the games are attracting huge audiences worldwide because of compelling stories such as swimmer Michael Phelps' quest for Olympic immortality. It will be interesting to see if the viewership trails off once the swimming competition ends.
Advertisers are going to take note of this for when the IOC comes calling for the London games in 2012.
Olympics advertisers are nervous about sparse crowds
Posted Aug 13th 2008 4:44PM by Jonathan Berr
Filed under: General Electric (GE), Coca-Cola (KO), Marketing and advertising, China, McDonald's (MCD), Business of sports
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-14-2008 @ 3:52PM
rinaldi said...
this article is lame
8-15-2008 @ 8:00PM
KJ said...
When the IOC contemplated awarding the games to China, all things now going on (censorship and repression) were brought up. China is not a free country. I belong to an international sportsman's group: we travel the world to attend significant sporting events in many countries. After confiring with members who had been to China previously, my organization, almost unanimously (116 to 2), decided to pass on the Olympics. The Chinese even wanted to assign "minders" to our group, representing over 100 high-spending members. The impulse to say "I told you so," was further enhanced by the appearance of soldiers in the opening ceremonies. Why wold anyone be surprised about empty seats?
8-19-2008 @ 11:42AM
F. W. Applegate said...
General Electric is one of the most multi faceted money making companies in the world and the stock price just does not show it...What gives?