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Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Good morning from Beijing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Another beautiful day in Beijing
You thought Atlanta’s air quality was bad? This was the view outside my window this morning.
We’ve spent some time with Beijing residents, who all say the air’s actually quite a bit better than it was years ago, and somewhat improved from just a few weeks ago.
I’m thinking of getting a MARTA card when I get back.
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Johnson & Johnson? We’ve never heard of it
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Johnson & Johnson got into Olympic sponsorship in a big way. The health care giant linked up not only with the Beijing Olympic Committee but the International Olympic Committee.
The worldwide sponsor and NBC launched a Web site earlier this year telling compelling stories of eight Olympic hopefuls, including shot putter Reese Hoffa of Athens. It stuck little first aid kits in the press kits handed out to journalists here and even put bottles of baby shampoo in the press village showers. Its logo is everywhere, and its corporate pavilion just off the Olympic Green features an exhibition of China’s famed Terracotta Warriors (The High Museum’s warriors exhibition starts in November.)
We wanted to drop by J&J’s warriors preview this afternoon. Since we just got here we weren’t familiar with the lay of the land yet. But no problem, we figured. Surely the phalanx of volunteers would quickly be able to point us toward such a major international sponsor.
Wrong.
“Johnson and Johnson?” wondered a volunteer, one of maybe 30 we asked for help. “We’ve never heard of it.”
Another asked if Johnson and Johnson were people, while a third asked if it was a biological company. Flummoxed, we called the official Olympics help line, where a succession of volunteers, each speaking English a little more proficiently than the last, tried valiantly to help.
“Are you looking for a specific Johnson & Johnson location in Bejing?” one pleasant young man asked, perhaps thinking we were seeking a drugstore.
After wandering around for an hour in weather that made Wall-E seem like a documentary, a Midwestern accent caught my ear. Finally, someone who had A. heard of Johnson & Johnson and B. could point us in their direction.
Maybe the blank stares were an aberration.
“We have seen very nice results here in China,” J&J exec Brian Perkins was saying when we finally made it. “We are very pleased with the result of our Olympic sponsorship so far.”
Tons of ATL companies are represented here, Coca-Cola chief among them of course. We’re also seeing hometown labels like FedEx and UPS and, one you might not have heard: Gerflor Taraflex, which is supplying flooring for volleyball and table tennis.
