Article: “At Beijing 2022, ‘woke capital’ in awkward spot on human rights“
Major multinational corporations such as Airbnb have sponsored the Beijing winter Olympics, but haven’t advertised or marketed it, due to the controversy surrounding the games. These companies often boast about supporting humanitarian causes such as Afghan refugees and the Black Lives Matter movement, but have continued to support the Beijing Olympics. Woke capitalism is the term used to describe the situation, where Western consumers have developed influence over the behavior of companies surrounding controversial issues. China has been accused of human rights abuses aginst the Uyghur Muslim population in Xinjiang, along with violations to pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong as well.
Although it seems that this year’s winter Olympics has been particularly controversial, this isn’t the first time brands have been in these situations. Former chief of marketing for the US Olympic Committee stated, “In Rio de Janeiro, the displacement of the poor and the pollution and the use of funds to build sporting facilities when there was poverty caused people to want sponsors to protest or boycott.”
Looking at the situation at the Beijing Olympics, the impact of globalization is hard to ignore. This is not the first time a country has been accused of disputable actions, however, due to globalization, it is gaining massive amounts of attention. Corporations now have global outreach, and therefore, these MNCs have impacts on the countries in which they are involved. Globalization has also led to better connectivity between people. As news spreads around faster, access to information becomes more and more accessible. Because of this, people have become more socially aware of the world around them, which has led to an increase in the influence consumers have over company behavior.
On the other hand, companies may hold back from getting involved in China’s affairs, as they may receive backlash. Nike and H&M sales plummeted in China after the companies accused China of forced labor, leading to calls for boycotts. Due to these past events, many companies may opt not to speak up against these issues.
Connecting the article back to discussions in class, one major topic discussed is multinational corporations (or MNCs). MNCs in the article, such as Airbnb, Nike, and H&M, have demonstrated the different influences they have in the global arena. Instead of responding to a particular state’s interest as NGOs do, these MNCs have shown more response to their consumers’ interests. In this case, Nike and H&M spoke out against China’s labor violations as consumers became aware of the issues, and Airbnb has kept their sponsorship to the Beijing Olympics silent in order to not associate themselves with the current political boycott.