I am not loving it: examining the hijacking of #CheersToSochi

#JoinTheConversation: The Evolving Legal Landscape of Using Hashtags in Sport

“…For instance, in advance of the 2012 Sochi Winter Games, official sponsor McDonald's launched a promotion inviting fans from around the world to support their favorite athletes with personalized messages by using the hashtag #CheersToSochi (Pegoraro, Burch, Frederick, & Vincent, 2014). Almost immediately, however, this hashtag was "hijacked" by LGBT activists criticizing Russia's discriminatory policies on sexual orientation, resulting in McDonald's quickly ceasing this well-meaning social media campaign at some financial, and arguably reputational, expense (Pegoraro et al, 2014). Given McDonald's financial investment as an Olympic sponsor, and the impact of official sponsors such as McDonald's on the financial feasibility of the IOC, one can appreciate the importance of providing trademark protection for hashtag marks such as #CheersToSochi.…”

“…This recent example also illuminates the legal complexity raised in the introduction to this paper. Increased reliance on hashtags as a form of sport sponsorship activation has allowed consumers to join the online conversation surrounding an event, in effect "altering the traditional model of one-way communication that once existed" (Pegoraro et al, 2014). As use of hashtags becomes an integral part of greater social media engagement, this has enabled enhanced sponsorship activation efforts in digital, mobile, and online mediums, and provided new opportunities to create and strengthen brand associations for consumers (Santomier, 2008).…”

“…This was clear with the #CheersToSochi McDonald's campaign, discussed earlier. Moreover, there is a lack of guidance in the sponsorship literature, with few scholars addressing how brands respond when other individuals' or groups' actions potentially harm positive brand associations created with an event (see Pegoraro et al, 2014), and even fewer scholars examining whether the organization's response can and should include a legal component.…”

Counter-Discourse Activism on Social Media: The Case of Challenging “Poverty Porn” Television

“…The campaign deliberately and explicitly chose to "hijack" the hashtag #benefitsstreet which was being promoted by the TV broadcaster -a strategy that has been used successfully by grassroots movements in the past to disrupt the marketing campaigns of commercial entities, corporations and government agencies, e.g. through the hijacking of the McDonalds' Twitter promotion hashtags #McDstories (Mcfedries 2013) and #CheersToSochi (Pegoraro et al 2014) and the #myNYPD law enforcement public relations campaign (Jackson and Welles 2015). In their analysis of the #CheersToSochi hijacking, Pegoraro et al (2014) draw specific attention to the loss of message control by the original corporate entity -a clear objective of the Parasite Street campaign in this instance.…”

Malice in the Digital Palace: A Commentary on Athletes, Social Media, and Defamation

“…With regard to the Olympic Games, research has demonstrated that content associated with hashtags differs from content provided by official accounts (Frederick, Burch, & Blaszka, 2013) and traditional media outlets (Frederick, Pegoraro, & Burch, 2016). In addition, hashtags have been used to counter public perceptions of events and hijack marketing initiatives (Pegoraro, Burch, Frederick, & Vincent, 2015). In terms of sociocultural topics, scholars have revealed that Twitter can be used as a vehicle to discuss issues related to flaws in the American justice system and freedom of speech .…”