Public health group Vital Strategies claims that Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the Olympics compels athletes to subtly promote dangerous sugary drinks.
According to the public health nonprofit Vital Strategies, the International Olympic Committee should immediately sever its ties with the Coca-Cola Co., its longstanding sponsor, as doing so will benefit athletes, fans, and the environment too.
Trish Cotter and Sandra Mullin of Vital Strategies have written an editorial that will be published this week in the journal BMJ Global Health, just days before the Games end. They claim that Coca-Cola’s (KO) sponsorship forces athletes to implicitly endorse unhealthy sugary drinks and also gives Coca-Cola access to political and corporate leaders to exert its influence.
Health Risks Linked to Sugary Beverages
The authors referenced the International Olympic Committee’s goal of promoting athletes’ health in a news statement, as well as the role that sugar-filled beverages play in obesity, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.
“By continuing its association with Coca-Cola, the Olympic movement risks being complicit in intensifying a global epidemic of poor nutrition, environmental degradation, and climate change,” the researchers said.
“By severing ties with Coca-Cola, the IOC can send a powerful message that the Olympics stand for integrity, health and sustainability,” the writers wrote. “Let’s implore the IOC to act swiftly in the best interests of athletes, spectators, and the planet.”
The authors pointed to soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo’s well-known snub at the 2021 European Championships, where he took off two Coca-Cola bottles and held up a bottle of water, saying, “Agua!” Ronaldo’s action “was seen by the public as a rebuke to the idea that Coca-Cola is a benign drink embraced by athletes at the top of their game.”
Coca-Cola’s Longstanding Partnership with the Olympics
On the Coca-Cola website, the beverage juggernaut boasts the longest sponsorship history at the Olympic Games, dating back to 1928. Coca-Cola is one of the original sponsors of The Olympic Partner program and will continue to do so at least through 2032, bringing the total length of the partnership to 104 years.
Mengniu Dairy is a part of the extended sponsorship, which is reportedly valued at $3 billion. For almost 20 years, the firm has also partnered with the Olympic Torch Relay.
Coca-Cola’s Response and Future Olympic Sponsorships
A Coca-Cola representative sent a comment to MarketWatch stating, “We’ve proudly partnered with the Olympic Games for more than 95 years, refreshing athletes, officials, volunteers, and spectators.” “As a full-service beverage company, we endorse guidelines limiting added sugar to 10% of daily calories and consistently modify our product line by cutting added sugar and launching new items to satisfy changing consumer preferences. We will have water, tea, coffee, juice, and sparkling drinks available for spectators to enjoy throughout the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
The representative added that Coca-Cola is working with the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee and the city of Paris to introduce “a refreshed distribution model” for their beverages. “Where feasible, we are leveraging beverage fountains and returnable glass bottles, serving our drinks into reusable and returnable cups provided and managed by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee,” the statement continued. “In venues where we can’t have drink fountains, we serve beverages from recycled plastic bottles.”
The spokesman described the Olympic and Paralympic Games “scale and complexity” as “a unique opportunity to test and learn about packaging distribution,” adding that Coca-Cola is eager to apply what it has learned to Paris in 2024.
The spokesman added that many of the teams and athletes competing in the Olympic Games receive “essential support” from Coca-Cola’s global alliance. “This funding is critical to enable athletes from around the world to train, prepare for and compete in the Games,” said a spokesperson.
A request for comment from MarketWatch has not yet received a response from the IOC.
The Paris Olympics present a fresh start for big sponsors following years of games hosted against the backdrop of geopolitical concerns and the COVID-19 pandemic, branding expert Jim Andrews told MarketWatch last month.
Andrews brought up the human rights complaints leveled at China and Russia, the countries that hosted the Winter Olympics in 2014 and 2022, respectively; the Tokyo Summer Olympics of 2020, which were postponed until 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021; and the worries surrounding the Zika virus that surfaced before the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016.
Included in the Olympic partner program are Visa Inc. (V), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), and Intel Corp. (INTC), the latter two of which have been global Olympic partners since 2017. In 2019, Airbnb Inc. (ABNB) joined as a partner, while earlier this year, Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), whose Budweiser brand sponsored the 2022 Qatar World Cup (and was the target of an unexpected stadium drink ban), joined as an Olympic partner.
(Tashia Bernardus)