The Olympics loom. Once again I am out of step with the nation. I feel like Scrooge at Christmas.
I salute sports people, their dedication and prowess. But the nobility of their art is undermined by their patrons.
Greenwash Gold is inviting votes for the worst sponsor.
I am cross about Olympics’ sponsors of fast-foods such as Coca Cola or McDonald’s which contribute to obesity.
However, my vote for worst sponsor must go to the Dow Chemical Company.
Its website looks green and pleasant.
Dow Chemical with Monsanto produced Agent Orange, a deadly herbicide used in the Vietnam war. Agent Orange caused severe deformations in children, according to the Vietnam Red Cross.
Dow Chemical owns the Union Carbide company responsible for the 1984 Bhopal tragedy. A terrible explosion of the US multinational’s pesticide factory one night in an Indian city resulted in painful deaths, poisoned water, chronic illness.
The survivors are still fighting for justice.
Meredith Alexander, a commissioner on the sustainability watchdog of the London 2012 Games, resigned over Dow Chemical’s sponsorship.
She explains in her words why, adding:
“I would like to see Dow take responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy.. .This would be a true Olympic legacy.
Look, the London 2012 Olympics have inspired groovy things such as sourcing sustainable wood and sustainable fish. I am not saying it is all bad.
However, just as Christmas is monetised, so are the Olympics.
Rooted in mythology, the Olympics were intended to develop spirituality. O, to revive this noble intention!
Which sponsor gets your worst vote?
Thank you Criminal Chalklist for ‘100 metre Dash’ image above. I think it might have inspired this post.
Real Food Lover 
And don’t get me started on surface-to-air missiles at Greenwich.
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Thanks, Elisabeth for drawing this to my attention. I saw the Olympic torch locally and felt minorly annoyed when the enormous Coca Cola vehicle drove past giving out drinks to the kids…but I actually didn’t know that Dow were a major sponsor. I have voted, tweeted and passed on the message.
And yes, the missiles at Greenwich…scary.
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Thank you, Grazing Kate.
Gosh, I had no idea about the “the enormous Coca Cola vehicle drove past giving out drinks to the kids”.
Lest we forget: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/12/what-happens-to-your-body-within-an-hour-of-drinking-a-coke.aspx
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Let’s not forget the Paralympics either. One of the sponsors is Atos, which has been responsible for throwing the sick and disabled off benefits at the government’s behest.
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Thank you, Woodsy. Yes, it is beyond belief.
As Greenwash Gold comments:
“Atos is the official IT partner of the London 2012 Games. Atos is also responsible for carrying out the UK government’s ‘work capability assessment’. Its unreasonable and unfair health testing programme is forcing thousands of sick people into poverty and despair.”
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This is a good website too: Disabled People Against Cuts http://www.dpac.uk.net/
Yes, we are feeling it: my youngest daughter’s home – which already does so much on so little – has had a 20% staff cut.
This is so short-sighted because reducing care for the vulnerable means more expense in the long-term. Let alone the needless suffering.
SO WRONG!
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I want to add this story too from Channel 4: Did GP Paralympians hide ATOS branding as a protest?
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I just discovered Meredith Alexander who resigned as commissioner on the sustainability watchdog of the London 2012 Games over Dow Chemical’s sponsorship then went on to become chair of Greenwash Gold in April. Go, Meredith!
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You’re not out of step with the whole nation – I think the Olympics is a horrible corporate festival of waste and stupidity. Being sponsored by Dow Chemicals is pretty much in step with the soulless, inhuman character of the whole event.
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Thank you, Joe. It is good to hear from others who feel similarly.
Yes, Olympics ate feeling so controlled and corporate…and soulless – good word.
And so blooming expensive, too. In a recession.
Hate to be a kill-joy but…
…Bread and circuses.
Bah. Humbug. Elisabeth
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The sponsorship of the Olympics just puts me off the whole event. In fact its really ruined it for me, it’s just too much with too many morally questionable corporations taking advantage.
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