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July 24, 2008 11:17:52 PM CDT

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Olympic Sponsors Targeted Over China-Darfur Links

Posted Feb 20, 08 1:19 PM CST in Sports,  Business 

(Newser) – Activists are preparing to plaster college campuses with posters with charges like “McDonald’s: Proud Sponsor of the Genocide Olympics,” hoping to pressure multinational corporations sponsoring the Beijing Games into doing more about Darfur, BusinessWeek reports. Buying oil from Sudan makes China a sponsor of the region's genocide, the thinking goes, and Olympics backers like McDonald's are sponsoring the sponsors of the killing.

“None of these companies really wants to be the spouting whale that gets the harpoon from China,” said the activist group’s director. And while McDonald's did take some action on the Darfur issue, activists say it’s too juicy a target to pass up. But the company seems unconcerned, counting on its charity work to soften any blows to its image.

Source BusinessWeek

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Hollywood director Steven Spielberg speaks in front of the logo for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games during a news conference in this file photo. Rights groups on Wednesday Feb 13, 2008 praised Hollywood...   (Associated Press)
Political activists hold a banner opposing the Chinese bid for the 2008 Olympic Games at the Athletissima meeting, in this Wednesday, July 4, 2001 file photo, in Lausanne, Switzerland. (AP Photo/KEYSTONE,...   (Associated Press)
A McDonalds sign welcomes patrons into the restaurant in Wilmington, Del. in this Jan. 24, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Chris Gardner, file)   (Associated Press)
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China  • 2008 Beijing Olympics  • Sudan  • Darfur  • genocide  • McDonald's  • Steven Spielberg  • General Electric  • activist  • Mia Farrow  • Adidas


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