• Reuters via Calgary Herald, Tuesday, March 25, 2008 10 AM

Marketers committed to spending millions on the Beijing Olympics would be in a real fix should they decide that the Chinese government's actions in Tibet could hurt their corporate image. Advertisers and agencies say they are closely watching the situation but at this point, the gains from being a part of the Games outweigh the disadvantages from being associated with the crackdown.

"Pretty much every corporation is saying: 'We're aware of it, but it's not our place to dictate policy,' " says one agency executive. "It has not yet precluded any advertisers from being there." And media buyers say they have yet to see easy exit clauses built into their contracts for ad time on NBC network and its affiliated channels. Of course, top Olympic sponsors are tightly locked into the ceremonies as part of costly, long-term commercial deals with organizers. They might decide that politics could hurt their brands and take out their ads -- but they would still have to suck up the cost.

"A lot of the inventory is contracted well in advance, so advertisers are bound to their commitments," says another media buyer. "It's not like they could make a decision to pull out. There would need to be discussions."

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