Toyota announced on Monday that it would not be airing any Olympics-related television advertising in Japan, a symbolic vote of no confidence from one of the most powerful firms in the nation only days before the Games get underway amid a state of emergency.
Strong opposition has been voiced by the Japanese public to the Games, which have been postponed for a year due to the pandemic. Many people are concerned that the large number of foreign visitors could make the Games a Covid-19 superspreader event and undermine national efforts to keep coronavirus levels low.
Toyota’s top executive, Akio Toyoda, will not attend the opening ceremony and will refrain from showing television advertisements at home during the Games, a company representative informed local news outlets during an online press conference.
“According to the business daily Yomiuri Shimbun, the spokesman, Jun Nagata, claimed that the public doesn’t support many features of these Olympics.
According to a statement from Toyota Motor North America, the advertisements will continue run in other markets. “The campaign is currently being aired nationwide in the United States and will continue to be aired as scheduled with our media partners during the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, according to the statement.
According to a person familiar with the company’s thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, the company had prepared advertisements for the event but will not air them due to worries that emphasizing its connection to the Games could create a backlash.
According to a spokeswoman, Toyota will keep up its obligations to aid Olympic athletes and offer transportation throughout the Games.
The business’s choice is “David Droga, the creator of the advertising agency Droga5, saw it as a major setback for the Olympics.
“Toyota ought to be all in through thick and thin, he added, but it’s clear that opinions are divided more than we realize.
According to surveys, the vast majority of the Japanese people is against holding the Games—which are scheduled to start on Friday—under the present circumstances, with many advocating their outright cancellation.
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In This Article...
Why are companies abandoning the Olympics?
The 2022 Summer Olympics in Beijing will begin in just eight weeks, yet controversy about the host country’s attitude toward human rights has persisted.
Due to China’s participation in the Olympics, the US government declared a diplomatic boycott this week “egregious atrocities and violations of human rights in Xinjiang. The diplomatic boycott was quickly followed by the UK, Australia, and Canada, which will prevent official government representatives from attending the event while still allowing athletes to participate in the games.
“Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, responded to the boycott by saying that the United States would be held accountable for its careless actions. The global corporations that are funding the winter games may be the ones to pay the highest price for the boycotts, aside from the diplomatic and cultural repercussions.
Did Toyota withdraw from the Olympics?
Toyota’s CEO will not attend the opening ceremony and the company cancels its Tokyo Olympics TV advertisements in Japan. The choice is a reflection of how deeply despised the Tokyo Olympics are in their host nation, Japan, where citizens worry that holding the Olympics may accelerate the spread of the delta strain COVID-19 virus.
Has Toyota stopped using the Olympics for advertising?
Despite its significant sponsorship agreement, Toyota has decided to stop airing its Olympic-related TV advertisements in Japan just days before the competition begins. The Drum speaks to experts about Toyota’s wise decision and why it is doubtful that other sponsors would follow suit, despite the fact that the news is shocking.
Toyota has pulled its Olympics-related TV advertisements from Japanese airwaves as criticism grows there.
Despite being one of the main corporate sponsors of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Toyota has pulled its Olympics-related TV advertisements from the air in Japan ahead of this Friday’s opening ceremony due to growing opposition to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in that country.
Just days after Japan proclaimed a fourth state of emergency in Tokyo, three athletes have already tested positive for Covid-19 inside the Olympic village, making this Olympic Games unlike any other. That 68% of Japanese citizens don’t believe the IOC can stop the spread of virus is hardly surprising. This is hardly the Olympic Games they had dreamed of since Tokyo won the bid in 2013, as spectators are currently prohibited from competitions.
The IOC is now waiting with bated breath for any further sponsors to follow Toyota’s lead after it decided to withdraw its television advertisements and prevent senior executives from attending the opening ceremony.
Although the action doesn’t give hope for the future Games, have critics been too eager to react and exaggerate the story? Here are some reasons why Toyota made a wise decision here that sponsors are unlikely to imitate.
Toyota paid what to sponsor the Olympics?
Toyota signed a 10-year arrangement that extends through 2024 and paid an estimated $835 million in 2015 to become the Olympic Games’ first-ever top mobility sponsor.
Who is the Olympics’ largest sponsor?
Since 1928, The Coca-Cola Company has sponsored every iteration of the Olympic Games, making it the movement’s longest-standing partner.
What does Toyota do to support athletes?
We are Team Toyota. On their paths to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022, and beyond, 31 American Olympic and Paralympic athletes, 18 American National Governing Bodies, and High Performance Management Organizations are supported by us.
Does Japan profit from the Olympics?
At National Stadium, the Tokyo Summer Olympics came to a dramatic conclusion with a barrage of pyrotechnics. But from an economic standpoint, it seemed more like a whimper.
According to a study by University of Oxford experts, the Olympics cost Japan at least $15.4 billion, making them the most expensive summer games ever. The 2008 Beijing Olympics are said to have cost more than $40 billion, but the researchers discovered that the majority of that money was spent in ways that were not directly related to the Games.
In the midst of a COVID-19 state of emergency, during which Japanese officials urged people to stay at home and bars to close early due to an uptick in infections, the 17-day Tokyo Olympics were hosted without any international visitors or even domestic supporters. This implies that the typical methods by which host nations cover the expense of hosting the Olympics are not an option.
The Tokyo Olympics have been compared to a write-off by some, but they have also brought in some positive publicity, so they can’t be completely written off.
When many in Japan were calling for the Tokyo Olympics to be cancelled in June, Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist of Nomura Research Institute, a think tank, predicted that the Games’ short-term economic gains would be $16.4 billion. He reduced it to $15.2 billion because to spectator constraints. That falls far short of some optimistic projections.
“The economic impact of the Games was predicted by the Tokyo municipal administration to be 12 trillion yen ($109 billion) a few years ago. They anticipated that international spectators would increase inbound demand by coming to Japan frequently. Because foreign spectators were not permitted, this estimate was obviously inflated, claims Kiuchi. “I still anticipate some sort of economic legacy, though. To improve the comfort and convenience of international visitors, hotels and restaurants invested money in renovations. This, in my opinion, is one of the economic legacies of the Games and it will help draw tourists from abroad to Japan.
Is the Toyota Olympic ad authentic?
Toyota may not be running Olympic-related advertisements in Japan, but the automaker is airing commercials during the games in America, according to The New York Times. An advertisement from Toyota that praises the human spirit’s ability to overcome adversity through sports is hitting people right in the feelings. People can’t stop tweeting about how heartfelt and motivational the advertisement is.
The swimmer Jessica Long, a 13-time gold medalist at the Paralympics, is featured in the advertisement. Long was born with a disorder called fibular hemimelia, which damaged her leg bones and necessitated having her legs amputated below the knees, according to the Toyota commercial. But as a result, she rose to become one of the best swimmers in American Paralympic history.
The commercial follows her as she swims through a body of open water while scenes from significant events in her life unfold on top of the surface of the water all around her. A call from an adoption agency informs her mother that they have discovered a newborn girl for adoption, but she is in Siberia and would require limb amputations. Images of a young Jessica using her prosthesis to learn how to walk and getting ready for a swim are shown. The adoption agent predicts that her life won’t be simple. Every time Jessica gets up to take a breath while swimming, the audience grows until there are a thousand people supporting her. Her mother responds, “It might not be simple, but it’ll be amazing.” I’m eager to meet her. Is anyone in this room chopping onions?
How much money will the Olympics cost Japan?
Four and a half months after the Games finished, local organizers announced that the Tokyo Olympics cost $1.8 billion less than expected. The anticipated official costs, according to the organizers, were $13.6 billion.