Note to CMO: The IOC's "Escape from San Francisco"

Dear CMO:

You've probably seen the video at this point, so there's little need to go into the details. The current fiasco unspooling before the world's weary eyes is how the once proud Olympic Torch is being dragged through the streets of the world by unsmiling and surly Chinese military police while residents of these poorly chosen cities attempt to extinguish it.

Honestly, the Olympics used to be about amateur sports on a global stage, where people who have really trained hard for years in sports that don't really have professional leagues have a moment to show their accomplishments. Today, the Olympic Torch is carried by Snake Pliskin dodging his way through a war zone.

There are too many strange turns of events to go into them all here, so let's just pick a few:

. Picking partners is tricky business. Disney's first choice to sing "Circle of Life," the theme song of Lion King, was The Gloved One. The problem with the kiddies and the sleep-overs at Neverland erupted just before the film was in the can. I think the IOC is wondering how they ended up with China as a host right about now.

. Managing risk is risky business. In the spirit of playing the hand that has been dealt as deftly as possible, let's assume a) you chose China, and b) China executed a bloody crack-down in Tibet. It's customary to parade the Olympic Torch through the world prior to the event itself. Which cities do you pick? San Francisco? Are you kidding? They protest in San Francisco. They protest anything. Everything. They're bored in San Francisco. Why would you pick the Bay Area? Pick Denver, near where the US Olympic Team trains. Pick anywhere else.

. There's a good way and a bad way to handle just about everything. So you're in charge of public relations for the host city this year, and your host country just got in the news in a bad way. How do you handle yourself? Do you put the symbol of the Olympics in harm's way? Do you have physical confrontations in each of your tour stops? Or do you can your presentation so that none of these things can possibly happen? I'd pick the latter.

Far be it for me to weigh in on China's handling of Tibet here on a marketing blog -- I try to stick to business here -- but I'm a pretty pro-freedom and democracy kind of marketer. We live in a free market economy, marketing is about freedom of choice to choose what and what not to purchase, and influence -- rather than coersion -- is what we do for a living. However, when the realities of geo-politics impact our carefully laid out marketing plans, we have to take notice and lessons learned here on this enormous stage can yield lessons for us in other arenas later on.

In times of uncertainty and confusion, limiting the ways things can go wrong is often the most prudent choice.


Regards.