Rio 2016 Names Off! As Official Bug Spray Sponsor to Combat Zika

Reasserting the Olympics’ power as a revenue-driving juggernaut, the IOC has named SC Johnson’s OFF! as the first-ever official bug spray partner in the history of the Olympic Games.

“To continue our support for the fight against mosquito-borne diseases, we will use our 60 years of expertise in mosquitoes to educate athletes, volunteers and spectators about how they can protect themselves against mosquito bites,” SC Johnson’s chief executive officer Fisk Johnson said in the statement to Bloomberg.

With the agreement, OFF! has tripled production of bug spray in its factory in Manaus, Brazil and will distribute 115,000 free bottles to athletes, volunteers, and officials at the Olympic Games. They will also distribute samples to spectators.

An outbreak of the Zika virus, spread by a certain species of mosquitoes, in Brazil has caused a parallel outbreak of fear among potential attendees of the Olympics: from spectators to athletes.

While for most the symptoms of Zika are relatively minor (less severe than the common flu), there is believed to be a correlation in Brazil between the outbreak and an increase in the number of babies born with micorcephaly.

Scientists for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States announced that “there is now enough evidence to conclude that Zika virus infection during pregnancy is a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects and has been linked to problems in infants, including eye defects, hearing loss, and impaired growth.”

Scientists still don’t know much about how great the risk is to unborn babies or how or when the virus passes from mother to fetus. They do, however, believe that as long as the virus has cleared a woman’s blood, there is no risk for birth defects in future pregnancies.

Still, several top athletes have withdrawn from the Olympics over concerns with the Zika virus. The scare has been cited as a reason for the withdrawal of many of the world’s top male golfers, stifling excitement over the sport’s debut in Rio.

Conversely, only one female golfer has withdrawn from the Olympics, raising accusations that male golfers are simply not interested, including from Olympic gold medalist swimmer Rebecca Adlington.

5
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

5 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Irish Ringer
8 years ago

Actually it’s a win win scenario. Free bottles of spray and education for the athletes, $$ for the sponsorship, and recognition to SC Johnson. Mosquito repellent is the most common method to deter mosquito bites and has been for decades.

Under the circumstances at this point it’s about all you can do while still holding the games in Rio during this time frame. With the bug spray and the fact it will be 60 degrees or lower, the chances of infection go way down. I’m guessing there will be other measures employed as well such as mosquito traps.

The real danger in Rio comes from the open water events and local population.

Uberfan
8 years ago

You know your Olympics is bad when you have to have an official bug spray partner

Sven
8 years ago

Yeah this should assuage everyone’s fears. A big ol’ bandaid.

Marley09
8 years ago

Switching gears, tickets became available for swimming for the 1st four days/nights in Rio.
https://www.cosport.com/olympics/tickets.aspx

Steve Nolan
8 years ago

Oh, well now feel safe.

I’m going to walk around in a hazmat suit.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

Read More »