The Olympics are practically tailor-made for inspirational posts. That’s not necessarily a good thing.
As the 2022 Winter Olympics spin up in and around Beijing,
The content in question will allegedly both highlight Beijing’s history and culture, as well as emphasize positive aspects of the relationship between China and the U.S.
Of course, that a host country would use the Olympics as a marketing opportunity is itself not new or even surprising. That’s kind of what the global sporting event is all about, after all. That a country might hire marketing firms to flood social media with seemingly organic content is worth noting, however.
The social media push comes at a time when the Chinese government is facing sustained criticism for its
It also comes on the heels of a sport-specific scandal. In November, the Chinese tennis star
The hashtag “#whereispengshuai” even trended in response to her disappearance.
We imagine any hashtags coming out of China’s social media Winter Olympics sponcon plans will be of a different sort entirely.