Last week, the 2020 Olympic Games kicked off in Tokyo with all the pomp associated with planet Earth’s premier athletic event.
For anyone who’s watched the Games before, it was all familiar: the fresh-faced athletes, the spirit of competition and, of course, the brands. A who’s who of blue-chip behemoths including Coca-Cola, P&G and Visa have anted up more than $3 billion for the privilege of being an Olympic sponsor, a distinction whose privileges include the use of the Olympic rings—and, indeed, just the word “Olympics”—in their marketing.
Yet for all its familiar trappings, Tokyo is an Olympics like no other. First, there is the pandemic. Despite 83% of Japanese citizens calling for the event’s cancellation, the Games have gone ahead—without spectators. Worse still, athletes who’ve trained for years have…
