Dick Pound, member of the International Olympics Committee says the “anti-stuff is overblown. He is also a disgrace and failing life. #LGBT bit.ly/1fnf3en #IOC #CheersToSochi
#AmericaIsBeautiful because #LGBT people enjoy the right to exercise their free speech. #CheersToSochi cc; @CocaCola
Coca-Cola: `Not very classy` to ask questions about #LGBT rights in #Russia. #CheersToSoch ihttp://bit.ly/1iEJW1O
Day 5 of #CheersToSochi! Keep the pressure up this weekend and send message you feelings to McDonald’s,Coca-Cola, Visa about sponsoring the The Olympic Gamesof Homophobia. See: http://bit.ly/M9UxVd
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement from #CheersToSochi alternative campaign architect Scott Wooledge on Queer Nation NY’s hijacking of the #CheersToSochi social media hashtag from Olympic sponsor Mcdonald’s:
“The worldwide reaction to our hijacking of the McDonald’s social media hashtag, #CheersToSochi, vividly demonstrates how much pent-up fury there is against the corporate Olympic sponsors and their refusal to defend the principles of the Olympic Charter in the face of Russia’s blatant violations. McDonald’s continues to address the situation in Russia as an inconvenient marketing and public relations problem, instead of the authentic human rights crisis that it is. Going forward, look for Queer Nation NY to use the hashtag #CheersToSochi as a means to register our protest of the Olympic sponsors’ complicity with Putin’s war on gays. The list includes, but is not limited to, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, General Electric, Dow Chemical, Proctor & Gamble, Panasonic, Samsung, Omega, Visa and Atos.”
After a pause, McDonald’s has begun again tweeting Olympic social content, but in at least five instances (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) without the #CheersToSochi hashtag, an apparent surrendering of the hashtag to the LGBT activist community.
A #CheersToSochi Coke advertisement going out to Russia’s LGBT community. Background on the #CheersToSochi Olympic protest movement. http://bit.ly/1ivh3oF
Day FOUR! LGBT Equaity supporters have hijacked McDonald’s #CheersToSochi campaign and are using to thank those who have made the homophobic Olympics possible. Read MORE: http://huff.to/1cajNUE and join them!
Yesterday, McDonald’s Corporation – a major Olympics sponsor – launched #CheersToSochi, a brand new social media campaign on Twitter to build excitement for the upcoming 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
The goal of the #CheersToSochi campaign, according to a McDonald’s press release, is for Olympics supporters to send good-luck wishes to athletes competing in the Games.
But over the past two days the campaign has backfired, as LGBT advocates targeting Olympics sponsors have hijacked the #CheersToSochi hashtag to draw attention to the persecution of LGBT people in Russia and condemn McDonald’s for not speaking out against it….
Read more at The Bilerico Project here.
Happy Martin Luther King Day. What’s your favorite King quote?
BRAVO to vicemag for this unflinching look at what it’s like to be “Young and Gay in Putin’s Russia.” This is why we object to the Olympics being held there.
