When Naomi Osaka walked on to court at the US Open in August, the world’s highest-paid female athlete was covered in names: Nike, Yonex, All Nippon Airways, and Nissin, the company that invented the instant noodle and which has supported her from the start of her stratospheric rise to the top of tennis.
So when Mayumi Taguchi, a fan watching an ocean away in Yokohama, saw the words “Breonna Taylor” emblazoned on Ms Osaka’s face mask, she assumed it was just another sponsor — perhaps an exotic foreign fashion label she’d never heard of. When she googled the words, the reality startled her. The name on Ms Osaka’s mask belonged to a black woman killed in her home by police in Louisville, Kentucky: one of the injustices that fuelled the Black Lives Matter movement.
In that instant, and with that deliberately unmissable statement, Ms Osaka propelled herself into a position that none before her have occupied — a superstar athlete capable, at the age of 23, of making a protest reverberate equally powerfully in both east and west. She set out to “spread awareness”, as she put it, of violence against black people on the biggest stage possible, but ended up, say sponsors, sports industry supremos and advertising agencies, doing a great deal more.
It was a pivotal moment, not only for tennis and for Ms Osaka’s international fan base, but for boardrooms and for a multibillion-dollar sports marketing industry which is facing unprecedented pressure to decide how far it should let politics entangle with commercial messaging.
“The balance of influence [for an athlete] has shifted quite dramatically, in every sport and every territory”, says Phil de Picciotto, founder and president of Octagon, a global talent agency.
“The value of an athlete brand is higher than ever. Now athletes are being very careful, as careful as companies are, in choosing [endorsement] partners.”
Athlete activism may not be a new phenomenon in the US, but in recent months there has been a fundamental change in the way that sponsors, leagues and many fans view political statements from stars.
Only four years ago, Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback who took the San Francisco 49ers to the 2013 Super Bowl, was effectively drummed out of the National Football League for leading a series of protests against police violence, which involved kneeling during the playing of the national anthem before every match.
Ms Osaka is such an important figure in this shifting culture because her fame reaches far beyond the US. In Japan, say two Tokyo-based sports agents, the media, sponsors, sports franchises and the country’s foremost advertising group, Dentsu, have tended to like their athletes bland and obedient. But Ms Osaka — the playfully blunt daughter of a Haitian father and a Japanese mother — is doubling down on her potential as an agent of change.
Even before her support for a cause that was, at the time, drawing millions on to American streets, Ms Osaka’s requirement to choose to retain Japanese citizenship when she turned 22 embodied the ambiguity with which Japan views her mixed heritage: a joy when she is winning, but a fundamental challenge to some people’s notions of “Japaneseness”.
“I love Osaka-chan and I loved her even more after she did this. It was brave and it was part of her character,” says Ms Taguchi, who started researching more on Taylor and the BLM protests. “I think that there were some stories about the Japanese sponsors being unhappy but everything is too conservative in Japan. We need more people like Osaka-chan to shake things up.”
Celebrity activism
Athlete activism has existed in the US for decades, ignited by the influence of Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight boxer, and sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos in the 1960s. All were punished for their activism and shunned by their sports. But a confluence of factors since then have amplified the power of athletes turning them from entertainment figures to some of the most prominent drivers of social conversation.
Those factors — including the shift from network television to cable and streaming, the increased distribution of sports broadcasts, a global growth of the middle class, and the opening of borders since the cold war — have “layered on top of one another” to create the current era of the powerful celebrity athlete, according to Mr de Picciotto.
In 2020, the police killings of Floyd, Taylor and other African-Americans led to massive social unrest around the US and throughout the world, giving new urgency to Black Lives Matter, a movement that promotes racial equality and denounces forces of systemic racism, including police brutality.
In the days following the Floyd killing, videos by NFL players demanding change and racial justice prompted an extraordinary apology by League commissioner Roger Goodell for not accommodating earlier protests by the likes of Mr Kaepernick.
The NFL, the NBA and other leagues began incorporating social justice slogans on fields of play and on uniforms this summer, at the request of players. A tipping point came in August with a mass walkout by players in professional basketball, baseball, football, and tennis — including Ms Osaka — in protest of the police shooting of another black man, Jacob Blake, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The scale of the BLM movement this year has “forced these challenging conversations to happen, especially in the corporate landscape”, says Blake Griffin, an NBA star who is endorsed by Nike’s Jordan brand, among other companies. This summer Michael Jordan, who was famously apolitical when he was one of the world’s most recognisable sports star in the 1990s, pledged $100m over the next decade together with the Jordan brand “to organisations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education”.
The leagues, companies, sponsors and agents have recognised the need to incorporate the athletes’ messages in their advertising.
Christa Carone, chief executive of the North America division at sports agency CSM, works with athletes, brands and leagues including the Women’s Tennis Association. After the August walkouts, Ms Carone says, “there wasn’t a single brand that said they wanted to step away” from sponsoring sports.
“This is a commercial environment, right, everything is a business, and no one was stepping away” she says.
Though athlete activism has existed for decades, until recently sports stars had to think critically about when and where they could engage on issues beyond the playing field.
“You still have people like [Fox News host] Laura Ingraham who tell LeBron to ‘shut up and dribble’”, says Mr Griffin. A decade into his playing career, Mr Griffin is now more comfortable advocating for social issues and rebutting critics who, he says, fundamentally misunderstand facets of the movement for racial justice.
“It’s almost like, if you say ‘Black Lives Matter Also’ at the end, people would be less freaked out in general,” he adds.
Ted Chervin, chairman of agency ICM Stellar Sports, says he found a way to “marry the moment to the client” this summer when Malcolm Jenkins signed a contributor contract with CNN to comment on national affairs, the first time an active NFL player has had such an agreement with a news broadcaster.
“When we originally signed him, he wanted an opportunity to extend his brand beyond sports,” Mr Chervin says. After the death of George Floyd and the subsequent upheaval within American football, “[we] thought, what about reaching out to CNN?”
Mr Chervin says the perception that athletes, particularly in the US, could speak out on social issues without eliminating professional opportunities for themselves has evolved over the past five years.
Today, brands that use athletes or celebrities for product marketing are rethinking their approach to civic issues, from systemic racism to voter enfranchisement. US sportswear maker Under Armour launched its first initiative to help members of the public register to vote this year, according to chief executive Patrik Frisk.
“If you asked me earlier this year if we would do such a thing, I would have said, ‘are you crazy? Why would I do that?’ But things have changed,” says Mr Chervin. The rise in athlete activism has, in fact, made it easier for the company — which relies on affiliations with stars and teams to sell products — to identify good partnerships for endorsements.
“Today, it’s easier to understand what a person or institution stands for and that they would be aligned with our stand against discrimination in any form,” he adds.
Unease in Asia
When Ms Osaka first appeared in a BLM mask, the response in Japan was not so straightforward.
Senior executives from two of her Japanese sponsor companies, according to people familiar with the situation, held emergency internal meetings to discuss what the impact for their brands.
Even now, with the benefit of almost two months to craft the perfect response, the ultra-cautious public reactions of her Japanese sponsors — companies that have all revelled in the ‘Naomi effect’ on product sales — suggest an unease with the change in stance.
While the cosmetics giant Shiseido says “we support the active and beautiful way of life of all sports enthusiasts in many different ways”, Citizen Watch says the company “respects her courageous actions”. Yonex, which makes Ms Osaka’s rackets, believes her actions “reflect our fundamental values”, while Nissin says she embodies its “hungry to win” slogan. All say they received a broad range of responses on her mask-based campaign.
However, sponsors in Japan are also aware of the series of events over the summer in the US that tipped the scales of power in favour of athletes.
It was this reality that caused Ms Osaka’s actions to resonate so powerfully in Tokyo. “They [Japanese companies and advertising agencies] look at the US and they see this shift in control and they wonder how long they can hold on to theirs,” says the chief executive of one Tokyo-based advertising agency.
The question, say marketing experts in Japan, is whether the new “Naomi effect” will be her ability to show that there are alternatives to the way things have always been done in Japan and to promote the awareness that not all deviation from the script is necessarily bad.
The Japanese advertising industry, says Hideki Ogino, chief executive of online advertising group FICC, has generally allowed companies to outsource most of the thinking about brand building and messaging. Because it suits the big agencies financially to use celebrities, they have pushed that on companies and then allowed the companies and the general public to build an expectation that those celebrities will speak only when required and be squeaky clean, he says.
“In the US, you hire for skills; in Japan you hire for image,” he says, adding that Ms Osaka’s great challenge to Japan’s status quo lies in the idea that image is ultimately something that the stars control, rather than the companies hiring their services.
Saeko Ishita, an expert on Japanese advertising at Osaka City University, says the habit-bound, celebrity-dependent advertising industry is simultaneously rigid in its conventions but also potentially vulnerable to change.
About 80 per cent of television advertising in Japan, she says, deploys a celebrity of some type — the highest ratio in the world followed by South Korea and China. As Japanese advertising budgets have shrunk and strategies changed, the focus on big foreign stars has diminished. That has placed even more emphasis on domestic celebrities — the singers and actors beholden to Japan’s powerful talent agencies provide the main feedstock, but sports stars are an increasing staple.
The practice has been kept alive by a compact in which the advertisers and sponsors demand rigorously innocuous behaviour from their pet celebrity, and have generally received that. Ms Osaka, whose sponsors have not abandoned her whatever their private views on her protests, has shown that it is possible to take a stand and survive.
“Speaking honestly, I would have to say that there has been more support and goodwill for her activism in the US market,” says Stuart Duguid, senior vice-president at IMG Tennis and agent for Ms Osaka. While the individuals who work at her Japanese brand partners are often supportive of her activism, “the Japanese companies, speaking corporately, are reluctant to support any message. They are steadfastly neutral.”
The corporate traditions ranged against any change may prove formidably hard to shift, Mr Duguid adds. “[But], if anyone can change that tradition, it would be Naomi Osaka.”
In a move that sent shockwaves through British Columbia’s political landscape, B.C. United leader Kevin Falcon announced on Wednesday that his party would suspend its campaign for the upcoming provincial election and throw its support behind John Rustad’s resurgent B.C. Conservatives. This unprecedented decision has left political watchers and analysts scrambling to make sense of the ramifications for the province’s political future.
Kevin Falcon, who took the reins of the B.C. Liberals—now rebranded as B.C. United—in February 2022, delivered the stunning news at a press conference that left many in disbelief. The former cabinet minister, known for his confidence and assertiveness, appeared uncharacteristically somber and introspective as he explained the rationale behind his decision.
Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, observed the stark contrast in Falcon’s demeanor. “This is a man who has always exuded confidence, even cockiness, throughout his political career. But today, he seemed on the brink of tears, visibly struggling with the weight of this decision,” Kurl noted. The emotional toll of Falcon’s announcement was evident, underscoring the gravity of the situation both personally and professionally for the B.C. United leader.
The roots of B.C. United’s collapse can be traced back to two key decisions made by Falcon: the expulsion of John Rustad from the party and the controversial rebranding from the B.C. Liberals to B.C. United. Rustad, who was removed from the party in February 2023 for questioning climate change science, quickly capitalized on his dismissal by revitalizing the dormant B.C. Conservative Party. Since then, Rustad has attracted a growing number of former B.C. United MLAs and candidates to his cause, turning the B.C. Conservatives into a formidable political force.
The decision to rebrand the B.C. Liberals as B.C. United, which was meant to signal a fresh start for the party, has been widely criticized as poorly timed and poorly executed. Bill Bennett, a former Liberal cabinet minister, lamented the lack of public understanding of the new brand. “There was no real effort to rebrand and help the public grasp who B.C. United was. The entire process lacked sufficient resources, which ultimately led to its failure,” Bennett said.
Political scientists have been quick to analyze the implications of Falcon’s decision to suspend B.C. United’s campaign. Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia (UBC), expressed shock at the sudden turn of events. “This was a party that, just moments ago, was preparing to compete in this election. To suddenly wave the white flag and step aside in favor of another party is unprecedented. We haven’t seen anything quite like this before,” Prest remarked.
The move has also raised questions about Falcon’s leadership and the future of B.C. United. Gerald Baier, an associate professor of political science at UBC, suggested that Falcon’s decision to expel Rustad may be viewed as the pivotal moment in his leadership. “If Falcon could go back and change one decision, it would likely be the expulsion of Rustad. That move set off a chain reaction that ultimately led to the party’s collapse,” Baier explained.
With B.C. United stepping aside, the B.C. Conservatives are now positioned to become the main opposition to the ruling B.C. NDP in the upcoming election, scheduled for October 19. However, the transition will not be without its challenges. The Conservatives will need to decide which B.C. United candidates to include on their slate, a process that could leave some candidates and voters in a state of uncertainty.
As the political landscape in British Columbia shifts dramatically, the upcoming election promises to be one of the most closely watched and hotly contested in recent memory. The decision by Falcon to back the B.C. Conservatives has not only upended the election but has also reshaped the future of politics in the province. As the dust settles, all eyes will be on John Rustad and his ability to capitalize on this newfound momentum.
In conclusion, Kevin Falcon’s decision to suspend B.C. United’s campaign and endorse the B.C. Conservatives marks a pivotal moment in British Columbia’s political history. The move has raised numerous questions about the future of B.C. United, the leadership of the B.C. Conservatives, and the upcoming election itself. As the province braces for what promises to be a highly volatile election season, one thing is clear: British Columbia’s political landscape will never be the same.
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s auditor general says his office has found no evidence of a conflict of interest in the handling of provincial grants for the zero-emission vehicle sector, after an accusation by a truck maker earlier this year.
Michael Pickup says in a statement the investigation looked into accounting firm MNP’s handling of Advanced Research and Commercialization grant applications, reviewing “a significant amount of information” from the company, the government and all applicants.
Pickup says the results show no evidence MNP wrote grant applications for clients, influenced the evaluation process to benefit clients or used its administering of the program to “recruit” clients for the company’s other services.
In April, the provincial legislature unanimously directed Pickup’s office to examine allegations by electric-hybrid truck maker Edison Motors that MNP was both administering the grants and offering services to help businesses with applications.
The Office of the Auditor General says the allegations from Edison, which is based in Merritt, B.C., suggested MNP “was offering to write grant applications in exchange for a success fee while also deciding who received grant funding.”
MNP said at the time that the allegations were “false and misleading.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2024.
Certain solar farms will be banned on prime agricultural land in Ontario as the province expands energy production to meet demand in the coming decades, Energy Minister Stephen Lecce said Wednesday.
Ontario is looking to add some 5,000 megawatts of energy to the grid, with Lecce directing the Independent Electricity System Operator to secure “technology agnostic” energy resources. That means the province will use a mix of natural gas, hydroelectric, renewables, nuclear and biomass energy sources, he said.
But the province is making efforts to protect key agricultural areas in the process, the minister said.
Ground-mounted solar panels will be prohibited on prime agricultural farmland, said Lecce, who pledged the province would “never misuse” those lands.
“Our farmers need more energy more than ever,” Lecce said.
“They need access to to affordable energy and so we made a commitment to work with them on a policy that ultimately will respect prime agricultural land.”
Other energy products being considered on prime agricultural land will now require an impact assessment before proceeding.
The province is also giving power to municipalities to decide if they want a particular energy project.
“Long gone are the days where Queen’s Park imposes projects on unwilling communities, undermining those agricultural areas,” Lecce said.
The news is welcome to farmers, said Drew Spoelstra, the president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
“The new energy procurement framework is a major step forward for Ontario,” he said.
“Reliable and affordable energy is incredibly important to the growth of the Ontario economy, including food production, food processing and the agri-food sector.”
Farmers and Premier Doug Ford’s government have had an up-and-down relationship in recent years in light of the Greenbelt scandal.
The province had said they were going to build 50,000 homes on the protected Greenbelt, which includes prime agricultural land. But several investigations by provincial bodies found the process was flawed as it favoured some developers with ties to the government over others.
Farmers did not like the possible encroachment onto farmland and joined the chorus to denounce the Greenbelt move. Last summer, amid mounting public pressure to reverse course, Ford walked back those Greenbelt plans.
Lecce’s announcement Wednesday comes as the province’s electricity demand is expected to grow by about two per cent each year, although that could be even higher depending on electrification within the broader economy.
The IESO has said the province will need at least 60 per cent more energy by 2050.
Ontario has also recently been adding electricity storage projects, with an eye to about 2,500 megawatts, and the IESO said the province’s emerging battery fleet will pair well with wind and solar, so that the power generated by those methods can be stored and injected into the grid when needed.
Ford cancelled 750 renewable energy contracts shortly after his Progressive Conservatives formed government in 2018, after the former Liberal government faced widespread anger over the long-term contracts with clean power producers at above-market rates.
The province is also moving ahead with nuclear energy expansion, including seeking to refurbish units at the Pickering nuclear plant, build small modular reactors at the Darlington nuclear plant and exploring a new, large-scale plant at Bruce Power.
In 2021, the electricity system was 94 per cent emissions free, but that is now down to 87 per cent as it uses natural gas to meet demand.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2024.
