Cadbury signs up for London 2012 Olympics
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has announced that Britain’s leading confectionery company Cadbury has become its latest Tier Two Supporter. Cadbury will assume the role as the Official Confectionery and Ice Cream Supporter for London 2012, rights to use the London 2012 marks on product as well as marketing rights to Team GB (Great Britain) and Paralympics GB. At Games time, Cadbury will supply all confectionery and packaged ice cream sold at venues and within the Olympic Park.
Cadbury was also an official supplier of the Sydney Games in 2000, as well as the Commonwealth Games in Manchester (2002) and Melbourne (2006).
The decision has been met with disappointment by health groups worried that, with high rates of childhood obesity, the link between confectionery and Olympics sends the wrong message.
Cadbury becomes the first food and beverage company to sign on for London 2012, although Coca-Cola and McDonald’s remain official global sponsors of the Olympics.
“For nearly 200 years, Cadbury has been part of the fabric of British life so we are extremely proud to be a supporter of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games,” Todd Stitzer, CEO of Cadbury plc, said. “Since John Cadbury opened a chocolate shop in Birmingham in 1824, we have strived to be a company that is both performance driven and values led – a philosophy that is at one with the long held ethos of the Games: inspiration, optimism and community.”
