Largely driven by Western countries, the new state system that was established after a 30 years war in Europe, the Treaty of Westphalia in 1600’s was established with the understanding that states also known as countries are defined by their nation, territory and sovereignty; thus sovereign countries have a consensus on the protocol of hosting an international event especially one like the Olympics which garners media attention and attracts diverse stakeholders. As such like any host country, Brazil was selected to meet the standards of the International Olympic Committee, securing financing to build the needed infrastructure to host an international event. Eventhough it failed to do so acontinuous to disappoint its own nation, Brazil government had the opportunity to brand the country and strengthen its bilateral relations through sports branding.
A little about the Olympics
In addition to being used as the basis of a dating system (calendar), the Olympics was also used as a religious and athletic festival that took place every four years at the shrine of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. The Ancient Olympic Games began in Greece in 776 BCE, and lasted over 1,000 years until Roman Emperor Theodosius I ended them in 391 A.D. Components of ancient Greek practices resurged in the Renaissance, such interest culminated in Pierre de Coubertin’s reigniting the Olympic Games. This French sportsman established an association and formed an International Olympic Committee to oversee the organization of the first Olympic Games’ which took place in Athens, Greece in 1896. From 11 to 16 different nations participating at the inception to recently gathering 206 participating nations in 2016, it has been reported that the first Olympics cost 740,000 drachmas (approximately $448,000) as opposed to an 11 billion USD that was invested to prepare for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Contrarily to the numerous other occasions when foreigners are faced in a cross-cultural conundrum – excluding other types of travels such as labor migration and disaster migration; the Olympics offers the host countries a array of opportunities to country brand, with host countries having to play a greater economic and cultural diplomatic roles. Events such as the Olympics become a staple for country branding as it is also a platform to accentuate cultural and economic diplomacy by utilizing the abundance of media presence- making it an ideal occasion for the host country to promote the richness of the land and beauty of the nation while presenting the amass opportunities for sustainable economic growth.
Brazil in the media
As an exclusive broadcaster, NBC is one media outlet that has invested believing in the value and benefits of the Olympic Games. It is reported that among the advertisers premium viewers aged between 18 to 49 year-old, the 2016 NBC’s ratings have under-performed the 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012 games as opposed to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 that had 27.2 million viewers just watching the broadcast network in prime time compared to the 2012 in London that had 30.3 million. Rio had an average of 27.5 million watching during prime time via the broadcast network, the web, and NBC’s cable channels.
Although Brazil is the first ever South American country hosting the Olympics, the viewership has steadily dwindled and as any other event, the Olympics’ has proven to be entertaining and politicized in all sorts of ways; each attempting to address inequality, injustice and various conflicts still plaguing the world. The apparent questionable stands are the Egyptian judoka athlete who disgracefully refused to shake his Israeli opponent and the Ethiopian unqualified swimmer Robel the Whale who represented the political injustices of Africa. Last but not least, the American Athlete renown as Ryan Lochte who disrespected the laws of the host country, dishonored his country ambassadorship and insulted the Brazilian nation while slighting the spirit of the Olympics set the tone of a country struggling to transform its country’s image of poverty related killings, corruption and decadent actions into one of abundant opportunities, sustainable growth and resilience. It is the media and their continuous broadcasting that served as a platform allowing viewers to witness the wins and losses but also all the acts related to the Olympics in Brazil. And in all of this media frenzy, the American athlete imperfect as he was, still came out the poster boy of the Olympics with a “Lochte Brand”.
“Lochte Brand”
It is possible to encounter bold bribery or “chantage”; and as a foreigner a prompt exit is often money, a “go-to” solution given the desire for currency though unlikely in the Western countries where law and order prevails. To address infractions such as vandalism both parties are interacting on the basis of minimal knowledge of each other’s cultural means of communication. Strangely enough, Lochte failed to face the outcomes of his actions while he deceitfully traveled back to the USA leaving behind his teammates who took the heat when he later admitted of sugarcoating the story. Even though he lost several endorsement deals given his “no-too-farfetched” story, as a celebrity that captivates audiences throughout the world, the “Lochte Brand” has brought at the forefront the importance of cultural awareness by underscoring the eminence of cross-cultural understanding. The cross-cultural communication issues arise when developed nations interact with nations with different languages, traditions, beliefs, etc…. Indeed it is highly likely that Lochte may have committed minor infractions and had a gun held in front of him by a law officer who was articulating an incomprehensible language similarly to the police agent who found speculative and faltering foreigners. After the closure of such intense competitiveness, he may have found himself embellishing “the Gaz station story” due to a “high” from some kind of substance, which is unjustifiable for any athlete competing overseas.
What this incident exhibits is, a 32 years-old young American who was able to navigate cultural nuances by swiftly transforming the narrative implicating two sovereign countries. We have been presented a silent video, two versions of Lochte stories, the media’s saturated run of segments and views, and all to demonstrate that Lochte is allegedly guilty of lying, being an irresponsible athlete and a controversial country brand ambassador. We can blame the media for lacking the investigative thoroughness before reporting as we can equally blame the IOC for failing to ensure greater cultural awareness orientations for all athletes prior to traveling- and such education should be complementary to the selection for representation. Regardless, Lochte has now launched himself on a forgiveness tour starting with the DWTS competition.
Listening to the View 20 years “Hot Topics” dialogue in September 2016, I was elated to hear the opinion of interesting women who have generally agreed that Lochte should have been benched at least one year. Agreeably, even if we are a forgiving nation and a land of endless opportunities, this rebellious American athlete appearing week after week on a prime time television show that garners an average of 12 million viewers per show, translates to the world as condoning and recommending a man who has stained the image of the 5th largest country in the world with a population of 200 million and a GDP of 1.6 trillion USD. Cameron of the View has exclaimed a show like “Dancing with the Stars” is a platform for redemption and hope that he will humble himself to regain the hearts of audiences across the globe; because ultimately every appearance will be reminder of the 2016 Olympics discourse as we saw during the DWTS, week of September 12.
Brazil Country Brand
Brazil was once a country that housed the capital of Portugal as the only capital of a European country outside of Europe, and today being home to the largest Japanese population outside Japan and as the only independent South American country to have sent approximately 25000 soldiers to fight during WWII; Brazil untold country’s brand found itself in the spotlight with Ryan Lochte who seemed to be frustrated of being in the shadow of the great Michael Phelps as he expressed “ I would be the Michael Phelps of swimming if he wasn’t there”. As inconsistent as he was and despite the “fabricated story” reinforcing the image of a violent and corrupt country called Brazil – evidently a country that has more than a few cities in the top 20 cities in the world with the highest murder rate-, the Lochte Brand overshadowed Brazil exorbitant preparation for “that” moment to exhibit its development as it is beholden to progressive policies such as free sex change in its public health system, has mandatory voting, a prison reform based on work and education in return for reduced sentencing, and is one of the only countries to have received about 2000 to 4000 confederate refugees who left after losing the civil war. By endorsing Lochte’s brand, Brazil’s country brand gets diminished. It continues to do so by poorly maintaining, if at all, the sites where once the festivities of the Olympics took place.
As Brazil was unjustly tarnished, the 2016 Olympics’ incident caused by the Lochte brand should now acknowledge and champion the role of a cross-cultural Ambassador by taking the opportunity to brand Brazil while opening the dialogue about the realities of the country and showcasing the longstanding bilateral US-Brazil relations. The “Lochte brand” resurgence on the DWTS will be a timely reminder that Brazil is still a “quasi-developed” country in pursuit of achieving the virtues of a new state system. The Lochte brand also demonstrates the significance of intercultural exchanges and that many are unaware of cross- cultural communications, which is integral at every interaction with foreigners. Instead of selfishly appearing on DWTS, the Lochte Brand should engage with the Brazilian Diaspora community in the US at the national and local level (where he resides). The Lochte Brand should also donate a percentage of his earnings to support organizations working to strengthen intercultural relations between the US and Brazil.
When a celebrity is designated to be brand and country ambassador, there is even a greater responsibility and accountability for actions taken. Eventhough Lochte has embellished the story of his infractions, the perception is that a 32 years-old young American was able to maneuver political systems unknowingly of the bilateral ramifications and his continuous appearance on DWTS, rekindles the memories of deceit and shame. This incident implicating two sovereign countries showed the world that regardless of a young American man’s actions that have marked a host country, will continue to be propelled to new heights rather than demonstrating that his foolishness was merely representative of the USA brand.
Who should be blamed for continuing to propel mediocrity even if we believe in “conditional and select” forgiveness? Does this mean that DWTS platform condone his actions? Does the network care about enhancing the American brand vs the Lochte Brand? We can raise all the questions…
I would say-
Let’s take the Lochte Brand infractions of 2016 Olympics as a lesson for us in preparation of events in an interconnected world where information has become uncontainable, unjustifiable and sometimes incredible. The Lochte Brand irresponsible ambassadorship has demonstrated the importance of cultural education while presenting opportunities for job creation for teachers, trainers and others in the cultural and communications field. As the world becomes one interconnected village – globalization requires intercultural relations and cross-cultural communications is the stepping-stone to forge harmonious human interactions based on common understanding and growth.
In hindsight, the “Lochte Brand” has materialized the importance of information communication and technology, branding, and culture in time of globalization.
