Toyota withdraws TV ads from Tokyo Olympics 2020 given Japanese public backlash for games

Toyota announced on Monday that it will not show Tv ads in Japan that feature athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympics. The company’s President and other top officials will not be present at the Games’ opening ceremony this week, as the Japanese public remains suspicious of the games.

Toyota struck an eight-year sponsorship arrangement with the Olympic Games in 2015, apparently for around $1 billion.

Jun Nagata, the organization’s chief communication officer, professedly stated during an internet briefing with the press in Japan on Monday (19 July) that the event had not received public approval. The automaker will support the event with an armada of electric vehicles designed to transport athletes to and from the Games. Toyota is the Olympics’ automotive partner and one of the top 15 partners.

The decision was portrayed by the local Kyodo News as an effort to “keep its image from becoming bad while the Games are on notwithstanding solid public resistance and worries of upsurged Covid cases.” Tokyo is in a fourth Covid emergency scenario during the times of Olympics 2020.