Toyota created an entire ad campaign starring Olympic athletes, but now, in an atmosphere of deep animosity toward the upcoming event due to Covid concerns, it is canceling the ads and the CEO will not attend the opening ceremony. Toyota likely pulled the ads because it doesn't want to damage its reputation by being associated with the games, according to Japanese media coverage.
Only 20% of Japanese are fully vaccinated, and a recent Asahi Shimbun poll found that 68% of respondents don't think the country is prepared to deal with the virus and that 55% oppose the games.
The economic fallout from hosting the games during a pandemic is also a problem for Japan. From The Hollywood Reporter:
Meanwhile, Japan and its taxpayers are estimated to have spent more than $26 billion on hosting the Games, including additional cost overruns because of the yearlong postponement.
When Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2013, organizers forecast that spectators, mostly incoming foreign tourists, would spend about $2 billion on tickets, hotels, meals and merchandise; and that the word-of-mouth effect of the foreign influx and attention, what economists called "legacy effects," would generate an additional $10 billion in inbound tourist spending over the coming decade. Under current restrictions, however, nearly all of that anticipated economic benefit for Japan is long gone.
