News

More demonstrations?

Yes.

Against corporations?

That, too.

From her New York office, Dream for Darfur consultant Ellen Freudenheim confirms soon-to-launch protests directed at the headquarters of heavyweight Olympic corporate sponsors.

For Games watchers, the name Coca-Cola Co. will undoubtedly jump to mind. And McDonald's Corp.

Somewhat less marquee, but a top-tier worldwide Olympic partner nonetheless, is Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp., which became the exclusive life insurance partner for the Games as a result of its takeover of Olympic sponsor John Hancock Inc. in 2004.

Ms. Freudenheim declines to reveal either specific strategy or precise agenda – exactly which corporations will be targeted and when – but says the protests will follow the planned release next week of Dream for Darfur's second report card grading corporations on their response to the coalition's call for action on the Darfur genocide.

It was Ms. Freudenheim who conceived of the report card project, launched last summer as part of the Darfur initiative that, says the organization's literature, “focuses on encouraging China to intercede with the regime in Khartoum to bring security to Darfur, using the Olympics as leverage.”

“The corporations,” Ms. Freudenheim says, “don't quite seem to feel the pulse of this.”

Before February, the pulse of the activist group was not easy to detect.

But then film director Steven Spielberg resigned as creative consultant for the opening and closing Olympic ceremonies. “I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual,” Mr. Spielberg said in a statement. “China's economic, military and diplomatic ties to the government of Sudan continue to provide it with the opportunity and obligation to press for change.”

Mr. Spielberg's stand-down was credited to the public relations campaign of the group.

Specifically, it was credited to actress Mia Farrow and the group's executive director, Jill Savitt.

If there was a tipping point for the coalition, the Spielberg moment was it. Two weeks ago, Dream for Darfur claimed the cover of The New York Times Magazine, which quoted a consultant to the coalition advising it to “choose two or even one company and hammer it.” McDonald's, the consultant went on to say, “is a phenomenal target.”

“I don't think we'll follow that advice,” Ms. Freudenheim says.

In November, the group released its first report card, grading top-tier Olympic sponsors according to such measures as humanitarian aid for Darfur and whether, in response to the group's urging, the companies had made either a direct appeal to the Chinese government for immediate action or appealed to the International Olympic Committee demanding the IOC's active engagement with China to resolve the Darfur crisis. “We simply asked them to raise the issue,” Ms. Freudenheim says. “We absolutely did not ask any sponsor to withdraw. We did not ask any sponsor to boycott.”

Included in the report was correspondence received from the Games' top sponsors. Writing to Ms. Savitt in late September, Robert Cook, a senior executive vice-president at Manulife, stated: “We share your horror of the genocide that has been taking place in Darfur, and your desire to see the humanitarian crisis there resolved as quickly as possible.” But, he continued: “As an Olympic sponsor, we firmly believe in the spirit of the Olympic movement, and do not feel that it is our place to make political demands of our hosts.”

In the view of Ms. Freudenheim, “when companies refuse to do anything, it really turns into just a marketing vehicle and their sponsorships are rendered hollow in terms of moral values.”

Companies counter that they are doing a great deal. General Electric Co. committed more than $2-million (U.S.) in aid through Unicef and other organizations in 2006 and provided a “point person” to deal with the Dream for Darfur campaign. The company earned a “C+” grade in the group's report card.

Dave Moran, director of communications for Coca-Cola Canada, says senior corporate representatives recently sat down with the leaders of Dream for Darfur in New York to “hear their concerns.”

The beverage company's positive engagement with the Darfur crisis extends to $5-million in humanitarian aid committed over five years, Mr. Moran says. The company earned a “D” in its report card ranking. (Manulife was among 13 of 19 sponsors that earned an “F.” Manulife did not respond to requests for comment for this article.)

Ms. Freudenheim says the group is now urging the Games' top sponsors to call for the full implementation of United Nations Resolution 1769, which authorizes the deployment of 26,000 peacekeepers to Darfur.

Mr. Moran says Coca-Cola, which has committed to sponsorship through 2020, “reached out to other partners and sponsors” and concluded that such a letter would “overstep the boundaries for appropriate political engagement for a private company.”Jonathan Freedman, a spokesman for the group, says to stay tuned.

The protests,” he says, “are going ahead.”