Anika Begay
Since then, each Summer and Winter Olympics has adopted a strict no-smoking policy, and since 2010, a completely no-tobacco policy. Smoking is not allowed anywhere at Paris 2024, except in designated areas, a rule that extends to vaping.
Another category of controversial Olympic sponsors are alcoholic beverage companies: from Molson Brewery at the 1976 Montreal Olympics to Heineken at the 2004 Athens Games.
While the IOC is partnered with AB InBev, the world’s largest beer producer, Corona Cero, a soft drink, is the global beer sponsor of the Paris Olympics. The Olympic Committee says this highlights “the commitment of both organizations to responsible drinking and a better world.”
Efforts like the Kick Big Soda Out of Sport campaign don’t come out of nowhere. At the 2012 London Olympics, Coca-Cola’s sponsorship, which included a variety of promotional activities focused on engaging young people, faced significant backlash. And in 2021, the company’s sponsorship has changed; Coca-Cola now has a joint “Olympic Partner,” or TOP, agreement with Mengniu, a Chinese dairy company, making them the exclusive soft drink sponsor of the Games. (The TOP program is the highest level of sponsorship at the Olympics.)
“Coca-Cola is positively associated with a dairy company and the ‘health halo’ that comes with it,” says Joe Piggin, senior lecturer in sports policy at Loughborough University. So while a joint sponsorship may seem to downplay the importance of Coca-Cola’s funding, strategically this move actually leverages the company’s sponsorship and future longevity.
From 2021 to 2032 (when their contract expires), the joint sponsors will pay the IOC an estimated $3 billion. The 14-person Coca-Cola athlete roster has been unveiled ahead of the 2024 Games. The face of the campaign is this image, featuring athletes holding bottles of Coca-Cola drinks. Some athletes are holding the same sugar-filled Coca-Cola, which contains 53 grams of sugar per 500 milliliters, nearly double the recommended daily sugar intake for an adult.
Many athletes are holding Powerade Original, another Coca-Cola drink, which contains 5.8 grams of sugar per 600-milliliter bottle, nearly 20 percent of the recommended daily allowance. (Powerade is also the official drink of the U.S. Olympic team.)
Experts have said this marketing strategy mirrors the cigarette-selling Olympians of the past. A recent project by the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society looked into this, noting that Harold “Dutch” Smith, a champion high-diver, was quoted in a 1935 Saturday Evening Post ad as saying, “Camels don’t take your breath away.”
“If a cigarette company tried to run a commercial on TV during the Olympics, there would be such an outcry. [should be] “It’s no different for Coca-Cola,” Lustig says. (“The Coca-Cola Company offers a wide range of beverage options that include milk-based beverages and fruit juices, as well as water, tea, coffee and carbonated beverages, with many sugar-free options available,” a CIO spokesperson told WIRED.)
“We urge sports organisations to stop promoting unhealthy foods and drinks and to work with health experts to create a healthier food environment,” said Zoe Davies, nutritionist at Action on Sugar, in a statement to WIRED.
Coca-Cola did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. “The company has used its front groups to push the argument that lack of exercise, not its sugary drinks, is fueling the obesity crisis,” says researcher Ashka Naik of Corporate Responsibility. However, Coca-Cola has been criticized for manipulating science to justify this blame shifting.
Experts WIRED spoke to have consistently argued that Coca-Cola should be the next Olympic sponsor to drop out; however, they don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.
Many experts have suggested that change shouldn’t be left to the organizations themselves. To prevent sports organizations from “taking money from ultra-processed food companies,” there needs to be “public policy measures,” Lustig says. “When there are more votes than dollars, that’s when things will change.”
