China: Nike says: let the politicians stay at home

?If there were no athletes there would be no Olympics, and if there were no Olympics no one would notice the absence of prime ministers at the opening ceremony in Beijing?. The answer Massimo Giunco, head of communications for Nike Europe, gives when asked whether Nike will boycott the Games sounds like a tongue twister. But his is a definite no ? Nike, or rather, the business sponsors, will not be boycotting the Chinese games: ?If Coca Cola weren?t there, Pepsi would go, and if Volkswagen didn?t, Peugeot would ? and so on. The same goes for Nike, and it could go on forever?.

The doubt that Giunco is trying to divert the blame does spring to mind, however, seeing as Nike carries out a lot of business in China. 35% of its shoes are produced there, where it also makes an annual turnover of 16 billion dollars. Isn?t it a bit too easy to say that it is the politicians who should be boycotting the Olympics and not the sponsors? ?To the numbers you quote you could add the billion spectators that are drawn to the Olympics in the opening ceremony alone, but our answer stays the same: like one of our athletes, Kobe Briant, said: if we weren?t going to Beijing, Tibet would not be getting world attention right now?.

Yes, the athletes ? right. Nike, who is not an official sponsor of the Games, has invested 5% of its yearly income in research and innovation for the stars of this year?s most popular sporting event. ?On products that are not even on sale to the general public?, explains the head of communications, ?Nike is sport, and the Olympics are the zenith of the sporting essence?. A boycott was never on the agenda. Not during management meetings, but ?not even in coffee breaks or on the online forums and blogs frequented by our clients? guarantees Giunco, ?because they know that the challenge lies elsewhere?. In the Chinese factories where gear sporting the swoosh – 250 out of 800 worldwide ? and employ 210 thousand employees whose rights are often not respected. And it is Nike to denounce these rights violations, in a report called Innovate for a Better World: 40 pages of facts and figures relating to the social and environmental problems tied to factories in Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong, published as the Olympic torch crossed London and Paris sparking public opinion. The message is clear: human rights violations are a problem that big industry must face, and the first step is by ensuring transparency.

More info

• www.nikeresponsibility.com
• http://innovateforabetterworld.net