FIFA's Squeaky Clean Sponsors

Though it'll soon be wrapped round tomorrow's chips (in a parallel universe in my head where people still wrap chips in newsprint) the story making today's headlines is that FIFA is corrupt, that Qatar bribed other countries with brown envelopes stuffed with $40,000 dollars to win the World Cup, and that Sepp Blatter knew all about it and is a lying coverer-upperer. Since I know little and care less about football, this doesn't surprise me in the least.

What has amused me is the rather feeble means protestors seem to have at their disposal. The top of the Top Tweets when you type in FIFA right now reads "Unhappy with Fifa? Tell the Fifa sponsors: @CocaCola @Sony @McDonalds @adidasUS @Hyundai @CastrolUSA" via @GrantWahl. Tell on them to their sponsors? In what distant corner of whose deluded mind did those sponsors suddenly grow a massive conscience?



Coca Cola? An April 2004 report from a fact-finding delegation headed by New York City Council Member Hiram Monserrate contends:
“To date, there have been a total of 179 major human rights violations of Coca-Cola's workers, including nine murders." And that's just in one country.

Sony planted a virus in everyone's computers in 2005.

McDonalds? Where to start... McDonalds Legal Cases has its own Wikipedia page

Adidas made jackboots for the Nazis in the war,in the 90s they were owned by a crook, Tapie, imprisoned for match fixing, (all on Wikipedia) and they are still accused of using sweatshop labour

Hyundai's chairman was imprisoned for bribery & embezzlement in 2006, and so was his son, another suspect killed himself

Castrol are accused of misusing number plate recognition cameras in the UK for "snoop-vertising"

All of which qualifies them to be perfect bedfellows for the corrupt, exclusive and elusive FIFA, but makes none of them the person I'd run to first if I was looking for someone who'll always do the right thing and report it to the proper authorities.

Just saying.

Kev F