How did events of September 11th affect the marketing of the Olympic Games?
I believe the games and the Olympic movements are more necessary today than they were before 9/11 because I really believe the games can be part of the healing process for the United States. And by the way, you have to treat it — the healing process — as something other than a marketing opportunity. This is not about capitalizing on the marketing opportunities. It’s about doing the right thing and being sensitive to the American public. Like everyone else, we are really thinking through what and how we say things because we have to be sensitive to what the American public is going through. The patriotic dimension is even greater than it ever has been. We recently ran a full-page ad a couple of times in USA Today. It’s a picture of two young women from the ’98 Hockey Team wrapped in the flag and the copy reads, “The United States Olympic Team. We’ve never been so proud to represent America.
