The company might fear that being linked with the games could harm its reputation.

Toyota, a Japanese automobile maker, has been a consistent sponsor of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics despite the ongoing concerns and controversies surrounding the event. While being an enormous global spectacle that garners worldwide attention, most major brands would typically want to showcase their ads during the games. However, these are far from ordinary times, which is why Toyota has opted for a more cautious approach to its branding strategy.

Today, Toyota made an announcement that all of its TV commercials which were supposed to feature Olympic references and appearances by Olympic athletes have been scrapped. Additionally, Toyota’s CEO, Akio Toyoda, will not be present at the opening ceremony of the games this Friday. Although no official explanation has been provided for these decisions, analysts speculate that the company is worried about its association with the controversial Tokyo Olympics.

“The Olympics is evolving into an event that is not receiving full public support,” a Toyota public relations executive informed Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper.

In the lead-up to the Olympics, a large portion of Japanese citizens were convinced that hosting the event would pose COVID-19-related risks to both the public and the athletes. Initially, this sentiment eased up slightly after the Olympic committee announced that spectators would be allowed, but it flared up again once fresh COVID surges in Japan prompted a reversal of that decision.

Toyota has decided not to air TV commercials in Japan during the Tokyo Olympics, and its president will skip the opening ceremony amid mounting concerns about the Games. https://t.co/CQY2T2QxWQ

— Bloomberg (@business) July 19, 2021

According to a survey conducted by Japanese newspaper Asahi, 68% of respondents doubt that the Olympic committee can effectively prevent COVID infections among the athletes, and 55% believe the games cannot proceed as planned. Presently, there have been 25 confirmed cases of COVID within the Olympic village, involving both staff and athletes.

Experts are closely monitoring the actions of other major sponsors of the games to see if they will imitate Toyota’s lead.