Feb 06 (Nikkei) - Japanese Olympic sponsors have refrained from splashy advertising campaigns featuring the Beijing Winter Games out of fears of a possible backlash amid criticism about China's human rights practices in the U.S. and Europe.
The subdued mood among Japanese companies stands in contrast with an aggressive marketing push by Chinese companies, like Anta Sports and Yili Group, which are using a popular athlete to promote their products.
Three Japanese companies, Toyota Motors, Bridgestone and Panasonic, serve as top-level sponsors, known as Worldwide Olympic Partners. Toyota has provided more than 2,000 vehicles for the Beijing Games while Bridgestone has offered roughly 11,500 tires. Panasonic is offering air purifiers and washing machines to help support athletes at Olympic villages.
As a Japan Olympic Committee sponsor, food company Ajinomoto also provides nutritional supplements to Japanese athletes.
But so far they have not run any Olympics-linked TV advertisements in Japan. As of Friday, there has been no Olympic-themed ads, including ones using the logo, according to CM Soken Consulting. This compares with ads by about 30 companies that ran roughly 2,650 times from late January through February during the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea.
The Olympics has not provided the usual boost to TV sales this time. Japanese sales of TVs since mid-January have been down 5-6% on the year, according to BCN, reflecting the lack of excitement among consumers.
