With only one day left before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where are all the sponsoring brands?

The mounting controversy surrounding Sochi 2014 has taken its toll on the opportunities provided by the Winter Games and it is hardly surprising fmcg brands have been playing it very low key, wary of being tainted by association with the controversial politics of the host nation.

And these have been numerous, varied and well-documented – from Russia’s anti-gay laws to security threats from militants in the North Caucasus region and questions about the Games’ environmental impact (to name just a few). Against such a backdrop, it’s hardly a surprise that the big sponsors have been keeping pretty quiet of late.

It’s nigh on impossible to find any mention of the Games in the UK from the Olympics’ longest-running sponsor, Coca-Cola, which has been heavily criticized for its involvement – when asked, I was directed to a company statement in support of inclusion, diversity and the core values of the Olympic movement.

Similarly MacDonald’s ‘Cheers to Sochi’ Twitter campaign was hacked by activists, while its official ‘champions of play’ initiative, which takes kids from a host of nations to the Games, does not seem to have included any kids from the UK.

P&G has avoided the brunt of criticism, keeping its ‘Thank You Mum’ campaign that worked well in London 2012 (aided no doubt by picking a winner in golden girl Jessica Ennis), “celebrating the everyday journey athletes take to get to the Games”. But its sponsorship of British skeleton racer (and medal hopeful) Shelley Rudman has been relatively low key.

Sponsorship of winter sports has never been particularly big in the UK (a resounding ‘meh’ came back from members of The Grocer team when discussing who would be watching the XXII Winter Games) but given the success of Vancouver four years ago, and the enthusiasm with which those Games were greeted, it looked as though this might be a tipping point.

According to figures from the IOC, Vancouver 2010 was the most watched Winter Games ever and the first to really embrace digital opportunity. With nearly 32,000 hours of TV coverage across the globe, it was thought to have reached over 1.8 billion people – around 48% of the potential global audience.

But with British hopefuls now settled in Sochi’s athletes’ village and completing their qualifying rounds, let’s hope there is a mite more enthusiasm and support for Team GB than there is for sponsoring the event.

And, you never know, there may be some genuinely memorable moments from Sochi 2014. (Bolero, anyone?)

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