Brands Will Need Those War Rooms They Set Up in Sochi

Global sponsors of the Winter Olympics are devoting major manpower to their social media campaigns, monitoring the games around the clock and mining the sports events for constant fodder for Vine, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

But sponsors such as Visa and McDonald’s also may consider logging time to answer their critics, who have hijacked the sponsors’ Olympics-themed Twitter hashtags to protest Russia’s anti-gay crackdown.

McDonald’s, in the unenviable position of having its #CheersToSochi campaign co-opted by consumers and civil rights activists, has tried to quiet the storm with an inclusionary corporate statement. Aware that “activists are targeting Olympic sponsors to voice their concerns regarding the Russian LGBT legislation,” McDonald’s said it supports human rights and believes the games “should be open to all, free of discrimination.” Read more...