Johnson & Johnson, an Olympic marketer since '97, "has
backed out of an estimated" $30M sponsorship of the 2002
Salt Lake City Games, "becoming the first corporate
casualty" of the SLOC bribery scandal, according to Linda
Fantin of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. J&J spokesperson John
McKeegan "blamed the broken deal" on "internal disagreements
about how to link the company's many consumer brands under
one sponsorship umbrella" for the Games, though he said the
bribery scandal "played a role in the decision to pull out."
USOC Secretary General & OPUS President John Krimsky said
that J&J backed out, despite a "signed a letter of intent,"
because of the "totality of the environment at the moment."
Fantin wrote that according to a '97 SLOC memo, OPUS had
targeted J&J, Delta Air, CNA Insurance, General Mills,
Unilever and Marriott Hotels for a combined $198M in cash,
services and goods, but only Delta has signed a contract.
But UT-based Questar Corp. and KSL are "close to announcing
supplier-level sponsorships" worth between $5-10M each, with
six other local companies "ready to contribute a combined"
$30M. SLOC President Mitt Romney "hopes to solicit" $100M
from UT businesses (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 4/18).
IS MOVE "OLD NEWS?" J&J's McKeegan said that the SLOC
bribery scandal was "in the back of people's minds" when J&J
decided to pull its sponsorship (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/19).
Krimsky called J&J's withdrawal "old news," as "they made
their decision before all the reports and reforms were made
after the scandal" (Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY, 4/19).
